Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday launched the tenth bidding round of Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) offering more than 1.91 lakh sq kms for exploration and production (E&P) for oil and gas.
Launching the latest bidding round on the side lines of the India Energy Week (IEW), Puri said this is the largest bid round in terms of acreage offered in a single OALP bid round under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) regime.
The Minister invited international oil and gas companies, which are participating at the India Energy Week, to invest in India’s E&P sector. This is the first OALP round that was launched after the Parliament passed the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act in December 2024. The Act enhance the ease of doing business in the E&P sector.
In the OALP tenth bidding round, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has offered 25 blocks, with an area of around 1,91,986.21 sq. km. are on offer to the investor community. These blocks spread over 13 sedimentary basins.
Out of a total 25 blocks on offer, 16 blocks with an area of 97,919.6 Sq. Km. (51 per cent) fall in the earlier ‘No-Go’ area. Out of 25 Blocks, 6 Blocks are in Onland, 6 Blocks are in Shallow Water, 1 in Deep Water and 12 Blocks are in Ultra Deep-Water areas
The blocks are spread over Category-I (9 Blocks), Category-II (11 Blocks) and Category-III (5 Blocks) Basins This bid round is primarily an offshore bid round with 19 offshore blocks covering an area of 1,75,115 sq.km. 13 blocks covering an area of 1,33,724 sq. km fall in deep water and ultra deepwater.
Further, for OALP round X, a new e-bidding portal is available for transparent and secure bidding with additional ease of doing business features.