The Centre has signed contracts with winners of blocks awarded under the Discovered Small Fields (DSF) Bid Round-II.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has bagged five blocks, while Oil India Limited (OIL) has cornered two blocks in this round.
A joint venture of IndianOil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) has won one block.
Private sector awardees
The remaining 15 blocks are private sector awardees, with Ganges Geo Resources Private Limited cornering the lion’s share with five blocks. Vedanta Limited, Arch Softwares Private Limited, Shanti G.D. Ispat and Power Private Limited and Bagadiya Brothers Private Limited have got two blocks each.
Speaking at the event, Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, “Fifteen companies have been provided with E&P contracts, interestingly eight among these are new entries in the sector… Our government has changed its priority from revenue-centric governance to production-centric. Increased local production means lower energy import bills, which, in turn, means more resources to commit towards developmental issues.”
Bidding process
The bid submission process in this round was completed on January 30, 2019.
The bidding started on August 9, 2018 with 25 contract areas on offer covering 59 discovered oil and gas fields. These fields are spread over 3,000 sq km with prospective resource base of over 190 million tonnes of oil and oil equivalent gas.
Under DSF Bid Round-II, a total of 145 bids were received in 24 Contract Areas, an official statement said.