Flop show? Only two PSUs bid for seven oilfields in 4th OALP round
The Union government received bids from only two state-owned companies for the seven oilfields offered under the fourth round of Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) auctions.
According to the statement by the director general of hydrocarbons, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has bid for all the blocks cumulatively spread across 18,510 sq km. It was the only bidder for the six blocks offered in Madhya Pradesh and one in West Bengal. For the 2,111 sq km block in Rajasthan, ONGC will compete with Oil India Ltd.
The highest bidders from the private sector in the earlier auctions were Vedanta Ltd and the joint venture between BP Exploration (Alpha) Ltd and Reliance Industries Ltd. This is the first round of OALP auction after the Cabinet, in February, amended the revenue sharing model for hydrocarbon exploration and capped the government’s revenue share at 50%.
