Insta
ONGC plant.
The Petroleum Ministry on Thursday (2 January) awarded all the seven oil and gas blocks put on offer under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) round to state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Spread across three sedimentary basins, the total area awarded in the seven on-land blocks is 18,510 square km, an official statement said.
Out of the seven blocks on offer, five are in Madhya Pradesh, and one each in Rajasthan and West Bengal.
The government had launched the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round-IV on 27 August 2019, and the bidding round closed on 31 October 2019.
Speaking at the awarding event, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said: "In the last two-and-a-half years, the government has successfully bid out nearly 1.4 lakh square kilometres for exploration and production. Seven blocks awarded today under OALP-IV to ONGC have the resource potential of approximately 33 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas."
He also said that the government has shifted its focus from revenue to production maximisation and has adopted the path of continuous reform.
The latest licensing round held with revamped terms witnessed only ONGC and Oil India participate in the bidding. ONGC put in bids for all the seven blocks on offer, while OIL put in an offer for one block by the close of bidding.
The four OALP bid rounds conducted till date have been a success, with a total of 94 blocks awarded covering an area of 1,36,790 square km to leading exploration companies.
The operators of these blocks have since then initiated petroleum exploration activities or are in final stages of obtaining Petroleum Exploration Licenses (PELs), the Petroleum Ministry statement said.
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest