The union ministry of petroleum and natural gas on Wednesday launched the ninth bidding round under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), offering 28 hydrocarbon blocks spread across eight sedimentary basins in a move to ramp up domestic oil and gas production.
The new blocks on offer include nine onland, eight shallow water, and 11 ultra-deepwater blocks, covering an area of approximately 136,596 square kilometers. This marks a significant expansion in India’s effort to explore and produce more hydrocarbons domestically.
“In continuation to its aggressive acceleration of E&P activities and adhering to the prescribed timelines, the Government has now launched OALP Bid Round-IX for International Competitive Bidding on 3 January 2024. In this bid round, 28 blocks, with an area of approximately 1,36,596 Sq. Km., are on offer for bidding,” the ministry said in a statement.
The current bid round is based on expressions of interest received from companies during April 2022 to March 2023. Out of the 28 blocks, 23 are based on these expressions, and five have been carved out by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The deadline for bid submissions is set for February 29.
Concurrently, the ministry also finalized contracts for 10 blocks awarded in the eighth round of OALP and three Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks from the Special CBM Bid Round-SCBM 2022.
Addressing the media, union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Singh Puri said that offshore acreage of more than 1 million square kilometre has been made available in recent past for E&P operations which were earlier so called ‘No-Go’ areas.
Puri also noted that the initiatives would increase the exploration coverage in India’s sedimentary basins from the current 10% to about 16% by the end of 2024.
In the Special CBM Round-2022, out of 16 CBM blocks offered, six bids were received for three blocks, which were awarded to two companies. The estimated investment in these blocks for exploration work is approximately USD 7.4 million.
The ministry emphasized the government’s continuous efforts to attract investment and streamline processes in the oil and gas sector. These efforts include policy reforms under the Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP), initiated in 2016 and updated in 2019 and 2023, focusing on production maximization and greater transparency.
Since the introduction of HELP, 144 exploratory blocks have been awarded, covering approximately 242,055 square kilometers. The government’s initiatives to attract global investors include providing access to quality data on Indian Sedimentary Basins and streamlining approval processes.
