13 Mar 2022
The government has extended the last date of bidding for the 11 oil and gas blocks on offer in the fifth bid round, and decided to merge the next two rounds into one in view of the COVID-19 lockdown in the country. The fifth bid round under Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) opened in January and was to initially close on March 18. However, the bid date was earlier this month extended to April 16. Now it has been further extended.
"In view of the lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the OALP bid Round-V last date for bid submission will be extended. The revised date shall be notified soon," the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) said in a tweet.
So far, the government has awarded 94 blocks in four rounds in the last two-and-a-half years. These 94 blocks cover an exploratory area of about 1,36,800 square kilometers over 16 Indian sedimentary basins.
In the latest bid round, about 19,800 sq km of area is on offer for bidding, according to the DGH.
Under OALP, companies are allowed to carve out areas they want to explore oil and gas in. Companies can put in an expression of interest (EoI) for any area throughout the year but such interests are accumulated thrice in a year. The areas sought are then put on auction.
The fifth cycle of submitting EoIs closed on November 30, 2019, and was followed by the sixth cycle that began on December 1, 20121 and was to last till March 31, 2022. It was to be followed by the seventh cycle from April 1, 2020 until July 31, 2020.
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