3 months ago
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The Government has extended the deadline for submitting bids for India's largest lipid and state acreage offering for a 4th time, granting imaginable investors an further 3 months, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons said.
"Bid submission closing day for OALP Bid Round X (has been) extended till May 29, 2026," DGH said connected its website.
While it did not springiness immoderate crushed for the extension, manufacture sources said this whitethorn person been done to springiness imaginable investors clip to survey the caller liberalised rules framed pursuing transition of the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Bill.
The 10th circular of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-X), which was launched successful February during India Energy Week (IEW) 2025 successful New Delhi, was primitively scheduled to adjacent astatine the extremity of July.
In precocious July, the deadline was extended to October 31 and again to December 31, 2025.
OALP-X bid deadline was past extended till February 18, 2026.
However, the deadline for submission of bids nether the 4th circular of Discovered Small Field (DSF) bid circular and the peculiar coal-bed methane (CBM) circular stays unchanged astatine February 18, 2026.
Under OALP-X, 25 blocks with a full country of astir 191,986 quadrate kilometres person been offered to bidders for uncovering and producing lipid and gas.
The acreage connected connection comprises six onshore blocks, six shallow-water tracts, 1 deepwater artifact and 12 located successful ultra-deepwater crossed 13 sedimentary basins, according to the DGH.
The circular includes 4 blocks with a combined country of 47,058 sq km successful the Andaman basin, which Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has been touting arsenic having the imaginable to clasp adjacent greater volumes of lipid and state reserves than those recovered successful exploration hotspot Guyana.
The circular offers the largest country truthful acold for exploration and accumulation of crude oil, which is refined into fuels similar petrol and diesel, and earthy gas, which is utilized to nutrient power, marque urea, turned into CNG to tally automobiles and occurrence household kitchens.
In the erstwhile 9 rounds, 3.78 lakh sq km country was offered.
The past bid round, OALP-IX, was the largest earlier the existent bid round. The OALP-IX bid circular featured 28 blocks oregon areas dispersed implicit 1.36 lakh sq km were offered for uncovering and producing lipid and gas.
OALP bid rounds were introduced aft an unfastened acreage argumentation was brought successful 2016, which moved distant from the erstwhile signifier of the authorities identifying and bidding retired blocks to 1 wherever explorers were allowed the state to place immoderate country extracurricular of the ones that are already with immoderate institution oregon other, for prospecting of lipid and gas.
The salient features of this policy, called Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), see reduced royalty rates and concessional royalty rates for aboriginal commercialized production, nary lipid CESS, exploration rights connected each retained areas implicit the afloat declaration life, and selling and pricing freedom.
OALP-IX successful September 2024 attracted 4 bidders that included state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) and backstage assemblage Vedanta Ltd, with astir blocks getting conscionable 2 bids, according to the DGH.
It besides for the archetypal clip that saw the Reliance Industries Ltd-BP Plc harvester bidding unneurotic with ONGC for 1 artifact successful Gujarat offshore.
ONGC connected its ain won 11 blocks and different 3 successful concern with OIL. It besides won the amusement h2o artifact successful the Gujarat-Saurashtra basin that it had bid with Reliance-BP.
Mining billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, which had bid for each 28 blocks connected offer, won 7 blocks portion OIL walked distant with the remaining six.
Prior to OALP-IX, Reliance and its supermajor spouse BP had bid successful conscionable 2 of the preceding 8 bid rounds since 2017. They had won some those blocks.
Blocks are awarded to firms offering the highest stock of revenues generated from lipid and state produced from the blocks and the enactment programme they perpetrate to.
The authorities has been hoping that opening up much acreage for exploration volition assistance boost India's lipid and state production, helping chopped down the USD 220 cardinal lipid import bill.
In 2016, it brought successful an unfastened acreage argumentation that moved distant from the erstwhile signifier of the authorities identifying and bidding retired blocks to 1 wherever explorers were allowed the state to place immoderate country extracurricular of the ones that are already with immoderate institution oregon other, for prospecting of lipid and gas.
The areas identified are to beryllium clubbed doubly a twelvemonth and offered for bidding.
The steadfast identifying the country gets a 5-point advantage.
Vedanta Ltd walked distant with 41 blocks retired of the 55 blocks connected connection successful the precise archetypal circular and got different 10 areas successful 2 consequent rounds.
Other rounds person been dominated by state-owned firms.
