ONGC gets 28 bids for 50 oil, gas fields in 1st bid round

State-owned ONGC has received bids for 50 out of the 64 small and marginal oil and gas fields it has offered in a first of its kind bid round for raising production by involving private companies. As many as 12 companies made 28 bids for 50 fields at the close of bidding on January 17, sources privy to the development said. ONGC had clubbed the 64 fields into 17 onshore contract areas that have a cumulative 300 million tonne of oil and oil equivalent natural gas reserves. The sources said 28 bids were received for 14 clusters, covering 50 fields, and no bids were received for 3 clusters covering 14 fields.

Duganta Oil and Gas Pvt Ltd made four bids, while Orissa Stevedores Ltd, Priserve Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Udayan Oil Solutions Pvt Ltd made three bids each. ONGC wants partners who can raise output beyond a pre-agreed baseline and will share revenues from such incremental production with them. The sources said salient features of the ONGC offering include complete marketing and pricing freedom to sell oil and gas on arm’s length basis through competitive system.