KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – The Indian government has put seven new oil and natural gas blocks up for bidding and subsequent grant of exploration licence under its new policy.
According to a statement issued by the Directorate General for Hydrocarbons (DGH), five blocks are in the little-explored Vindhyan sedimentary basin, one block is in the Bengal Purenia basin and another block is located in a basin in the central Indian desert province of Rajasthan.
In total, 18 509 km2 is on offer for auction under the fourth round of the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), which will permit successful bidders full production and pricing freedom. At the same time, the criteria for bidding have been changed from production sharing and will now be determined by the level of exploration committed by an investor at the time of bidding.
DGH says that, “the revamped policy also provides for shorter exploration period, concessional royalties to expedite oil and gas production and introduction of alternative dispute resolution mechanism”.
According to the regulator, the last date for submission of bids is October 31, and it is expected that this round of auction under OALP will generate immediate exploration work commitments of $200-million to $250-million.