Government to offer over 70 blocks under NELP-VII; bids likely by April 2008
24 Aug 2007
Mumbai: The government will offer a record number of oil and gas blocks under the seventh round of oil and gas exploration bids. Invitation of bids for NELP-VII are expected to start in April 2008, M.S. Srinivasan, secretary to the oil ministry, said.
As many as 70 exploration blocks are on offer and the government may start marketing them in October or November, newspaper reports in Singapore quoted Srinivasan as saying.
The government, meanwhile, is planning changes in the definition of discovery to avoid disputes between the regulator and explorers. The government will also have greater control over project costs.
Changes in the production sharing contracts between explorers and the government are also planned to protect the state's share of revenue from oil and gas exploration projects.
The government postponed the NELP-VII round twice after bidders failed to meet drilling commitments made in earlier rounds amid a shortage of rigs. The government also hopes to better negotiate contracts given the expanding gas reserves this time.
Previous bidders, including state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and private sector Reliance Industries Ltd. and Eni SpA, have drilled less than a 10th of the 880 wells agreed under exploration licences awarded by the government since 2000. The government, however, is not obliged to offer exploration acreages every year.
