ONGC bags 7 blocks, OIL 4 in latest round

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) have won all the 11 blocks offered in the latest bidding round for oil and gas exploration blocks, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons said on Thursday.

ONGC won seven blocks while OIL won the other four blocks, with only one bid coming from the private sector from Invenire Petrodyne Ltd.

ONGC had also dominated the previous round of bidding, winning all six of the blocks offered in the fourth round, offered under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).

Experts have said the lack of interest from private players in recent rounds of OALP bidding has been a result of a lack of policy clarity from the government and unsuitable taxation and regulatory conditions.