GAIL, Oil India to jointly bid for exploration blocks on auction

Mumbai: Public sector gas firm GAIL and explorer Oil India Ltd will jointly bid for oil and gas assets being auctioned under the New Exploration Licensing Policy.

The two have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for joint exploration and production, natural gas marketing and transmission, city gas distribution, petrochemicals and technology, GAIL said in a statement.

The two firms will also jointly bid for overseas exploration blocks.

Bids for the seventh round of auction under the NELP, launched earlier this month, are scheduled to close on April 11.

The government expects to draw somewhere between $3 billion and $3.5 billion for the 57 blocks that will be auctioned.

GAIL and OIL are already partners in the Brahmaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd in Assam, GAIL said.