ONGC, OIL win maximum blocks in bidding

New Delhi, July 8

State-owned ONGC, OIL and GAIL walked away with most of the eight blocks offered for exploration and production of oil and gas in the OALP 7th bid round even as the government launched the next bidding round, expecting $600-700 million investment in the 10 areas on offer.

GAIL bags one, Sun Petrochemicals two

• ONGC won three blocks while Oil India Ltd (OIL) won two, according to information posted by the DGH
• GAIL walked away with one block in Rajasthan while Sun Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd won the remaining two blocks

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) won three blocks in the OALP-VII round while Oil India Ltd (OIL) won two, according to information posted by the DGH.

GAIL walked away with one block in Rajasthan while Sun Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd won the remaining two blocks.

Separately, the Oil Ministry said a new policy for finding and producing oil and gas, called the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), was promulgated on March 30, 2016.

Since then, seven bid rounds of the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) have been concluded and 134 exploration and production blocks awarded. These blocks cover 2,07,691 sq km of area across 19 sedimentary basins.

“In continuation of its zeal to accelerate E&P activities, the government has now launched the OALP Bid Round-VIII, offering 10 blocks, for international competitive bidding,” the ministry said.