Govt likely to announce 10th round of oil and gas block auction in January, 2014

27 Sep 2013 Evaluate

The government is likely to announce 10th round of auction of oil and gas blocks in January, 2014. Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said that 10th round of auction will be a perfect one as hindrances faced in the previous rounds would be removed as country looks to attract foreign investors to boost domestic production. During the previous nine rounds, the government had awarded 254 blocks for exploration of oil and gas, which had received tepid response with global majors staying away.

In the 10th round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), Oil Ministry is looking at offering as many as 68 blocks or areas for exploration of oil and gas. Out of 68 blocks considered for offering in NELP-10, 25 blocks are deep water, 20 shallow water and 23 on land blocks. It will be the second highest offering of blocks since the advent of NELP in 1999 and will be free from obstructions facing exploration and production. At present, the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Oil Ministry are in process of getting various clearances for offering oil and gas blocks.

As per the government, 10th round of auction is likely to be held on new terms wherein a bidder shall be asked to quote the amount of oil or gas output it is willing to offer to the government from the first day of production. Presently, oil companies are allowed to share the profit with the government only after recovering the entire cost of exploration and production.

Meanwhile, oil ministry has formulated a roadmap for cutting India's dependence on imports to meet its oil needs. India currently imports around 79 percent of its oil needs and the Ministry wants this to be cut to 50 percent by 2020 and by 25 percent in 2025 through intensive exploration and exploitation of untapped reserves. Presently, only 0.93 million sq km area in India is held under exploration and production in 19 basins as compared to total estimated sedimentary area of 3.14 million square kilometres, comprising 26 sedimentary basins.

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