ONGC has won 7 out of 11 oil and gas exploration blocks offered for bidding in the latest licensing round, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) said. While, Oil India Ltd (OIL) won the remaining four blocks. Government had offered 11 blocks for exploration and production of oil and gas in the fifth bid round under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OLAP).
A total of 12 bids, 7 by ONGC and 4 by Oil India Ltd were received for the 11 blocks on offer at the close of bidding on June 30. Invenire Petrodyne Ltd was the only private bidder for 1 block. The previous bid round, OALP-IV, too had seen just eight bids coming in for seven blocks on offer. ONGC had walked away with all the seven oil and gas blocks on offer.
In the latest bid round, about 19,800 sq km of the area was offered for bidding. Unlike previous rounds, where blocks were awarded to companies offering a maximum share of oil and gas to the government, blocks in little or unexplored Category-II and III basins are now awarded to companies offering to do maximum exploration programme.
The 11 blocks under OALP-V are spread across 8 sedimentary basins and include 8 on land blocks (6 in Category-I basin and 1 each in Category II and III basins), 2 shallow-water blocks (1 each in Category-I and II basins) and 1 ultra-deep water block (Category-I basin).
At the time of the launch of OALP-V, it was stated that the round is expected to generate immediate exploration work commitment of around USD 400-450 million. Of the 94 blocks awarded in the first four rounds of OALP, Vedanta has won the maximum at 51. Oil India Ltd has got 21 blocks and ONGC another 17. After OALP-V, ONGC’s tally has gone up to 24 and that of OIL to 25.
