New Delhi: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has won seven areas for exploration of oil and gas while a consortium of Reliance Industries Ltd and BP Plc walked away with one in the latest Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) bid round. Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said 10 blocks for exploration and production of oil and gas were offered in the eighth round of OALP.
Contracts for the 10 blocks were signed on Wednesday morning, he said. Of the 10 blocks offered, ONGC won seven while Reliance-BP, Oil India Ltd and Sun Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd got one area each.
Parallelly, three coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks too were awarded and the ninth round of OALP was launched for bidding. "Estimated investments in awarded blocks for a committed exploration work programme is to the tune of USD 233 million," an official note said.
India had offered 10 blocks for bidding in the eighth round of the OALP in July 2022. After extending the bid deadline a few times, the round closed in July 2023.