Republic of India - Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
01-October, 2018 17:17 IST
Contracts signed under Open Acreage Licensing Policy Bid Round-I

Government of India today signed the contracts of the blocks awarded under the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) Bid Round-Iwith the awardees at New Delhi. The event was presided by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, along with Dr. M. M. Kutty, Secretary (P&NG), Dr. V. P. Joy, Director General- Directorate General of Hydrocarbons and other senior officials of the Ministry.

Initially, 110 e-bids were received for 55 blocks on offer with participation from 9 companies, singly or in consortium. Finally, contracts have been signed for all 55 blocks with 6 companies.The details of the contract areas signed is placed at Annexure 1.This will add a huge accretion of 59,282 sq.km to the exploration area. This is about 65% of the area presently under exploration in the country. This will lead to significant increase in E&P activities in India and in long run discoveries from these field maysignificantly boost domestic production.

The bid round-I of OALP was launched in January 2018 under the liberalized Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP). It is for the first time that bidding in the E&P sector in India was for blocks that had been selected by bidders themselves with government playing a facilitator role. The OALP bid round-I has received overwhelming enthusiasm from various stakeholders of E&P industry, with all 55 blocks on offer receiving bids and being awarded.

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan congratulated the awardees and assured them of complete support and assistance from the Government. He reiterated the relentless efforts of the government to enhance domestic hydrocarbon production by putting forth new policy initiatives and new offers so that the true potential of Indian sedimentary basins is realized. The Minister said that the Companies have committed investment of about Rs 6000 Crore for exploring under this round. He said there is huge potential in these reserves and their exploration will positively impact the Indian economy. He said that the Government is working in a transparent manner, and policies are being made, after extensive consultation with all stakeholders. Shri Pradhan said that Minimum Government-Maximum Governance is not only a slogan for us, but a guiding principle. He said that India has already become third largest energy consumer in the world and the Government is committed to provide affordable energy to its citizens, and for this purpose, several initiatives have been taken to enhance the production of hydrocarbons.

Annexure 1 - Details of the contracts signed under the OALP Bid Round-I

Winner

No of Blocks

Block Name

States / offshore area

Approved Area (sq.km.)

Vedanta Limited

41

AA-ONHP-2017/1

Assam

715

AA-ONHP-2017/11

Assam

785

AA-ONHP-2017/14

Assam & Mizoram

1719

AA-ONHP-2017/15

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

1367

AA-ONHP-2017/2

Arunachal Pradesh

73

AA-ONHP-2017/3

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

268

AA-ONHP-2017/4

Assam

839

AA-ONHP-2017/5

Assam

758

AA-ONHP-2017/6

Tripura

279

AA-ONHP-2017/8

Assam

611

AA-ONHP-2017/9

Assam

18

CB-ONHP-2017/1

Gujarat

1490

CB-ONHP-2017/10

Gujarat & Rajasthan

2766

CB-ONHP-2017/11

Gujarat

70

CB-ONHP-2017/2

Gujarat

317

CB-ONHP-2017/3

Gujarat

83

CB-ONHP-2017/4

Gujarat

95

CB-ONHP-2017/5

Gujarat

990

CB-ONHP-2017/6

Gujarat

19

CB-ONHP-2017/7

Gujarat

1335

CY-OSHP-2017/1

Cauvery Offshore

1794

CY-OSHP-2017/2

Cauvery Offshore

2574

GK-ONHP-2017/1

Gujarat

2690

GK-OSHP-2017/1

Gujarat Kutch Offshore

2960

GS-OSHP-2017/1

Gujarat Saurashtra Offshore

2627

GS-OSHP-2017/2

Gujarat Saurashtra Offshore

674

GV-ONHP-2017/1

Uttar Pradesh

1817

HF-ONHP-2017/1

Himachal Pradesh

666

KG-DWHP-2017/1

KG Offshore

6574

KG-ONHP-2017/1

Andhra Pradesh

2321

KG-ONHP-2017/2

Andhra Pradesh

668

KG-ONHP-2017/3

Andhra Pradesh

49

KG-OSHP-2017/1

KG Offshore

177

MB-OSHP-2017/2

Mumbai Offshore

2690

RJ-ONHP-2017/1

Rajasthan

542

RJ-ONHP-2017/2

Rajasthan

1072

RJ-ONHP-2017/3

Rajasthan & Gujarat

1430

RJ-ONHP-2017/4

Rajasthan

1087

RJ-ONHP-2017/5

Rajasthan

917

RJ-ONHP-2017/6

Rajasthan

925

RJ-ONHP-2017/7

Rajasthan

603

Winner

No of Blocks

Block Name

States / offshore area

Approved Area (sq.km.)

Bharat Petro Resources Limited (BPRL)

1

CB-ONHP-2017/9

Gujarat

174

GAIL (India) Limited

1

CB-ONHP-2017/12

Gujarat

212

Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd. (HOEC)

1

AA-ONHP2017/19

Assam

79

Oil India Limited (OIL)

9

AA-ONHP-2017/10

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

543

AA-ONHP-2017/12

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

489

AA-ONHP-2017/13

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

841

AA-ONHP-2017/16

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

361

AA-ONHP-2017/17

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

309

AA-ONHP-2017/18

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

1711

AA-ONHP-2017/20

Assam & Arunachal Pradesh

125

RJ-ONHP-2017/8

Rajasthan

516

RJ-ONHP-2017/9

Rajasthan

3012

ONGC

2

CY-ONHP-2017/1

Tamil Nadu

731

MB-OSHP-2017/1

Mumbai Offshore

725

Total
55
59282



Summary:

Total No. of Companies
PSUs
Private Companies

6
4
2



Total No. of Blocks
On-land (No. of States)
55
46 (10)


Offshore

Eastern
Western
Total

04
05
09

YB

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Finance
04-October, 2018 12:01 IST
Financing standing working capital of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) by long term external borrowings

It has been decided to put in place an arrangement for financing the standing working capital requirements of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) by long-term foreign currency loans. The arrangement will be as follows:

1. OMCs will borrow USD 10 billion with a maturity of 5 years in a phased manner, with an initial tranche of USD 4 billion followed by two tranches of USD 3 billion each, all borrowing completed in a period of one year from now.
2. OMCs will not be required to hedge their exposure.

*****

 

[Hindustani78]

Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas
04-October, 2018 11:09 IST
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan meets H.E. Union Minister for Construction, Electricity and Energy of Myanmar

Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan has held a meeting with H.E. U Win Khaing, the Union Minister for Construction, Electricity and Energy of Myanmar.The Myanmar Minister is on an official visit to India to attend the first General Assembly of International Solar Alliance (ISA).

During the meeting, both Ministers discussed issues of bilateral engagement in the hydrocarbon sector. In the Upstream sector, they discussed the current and future investments by Indian companies in Myanmar. Presently, ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) and GAIL have invested in gas producing blocks in Myanmar. OVL also has stakes in exploratory blocks in Myanmar. Indian companies IOCL, NRL and HPCL are exporting petroleum products, lubricants and paraffin wax to Myanmar.The hydrocarbon engagement between the two sides has been steadily strengthening. Indian PSU companies have invested over US $ 1 billion in the upstream and midstream sectors in Myanmar.

Shri Pradhan shared Indian interest to participate in midstream and downstream sectorsin Myanmar, including setting up a refinery,storage, distribution and marketing of petroleum products in Myanmar. He also extended proposals to assist Myanmar in training and capacity building in hydrocarbon sector.

This was the second visit of Myanmar Minister to India. During his last visit he had visited Panipat refinery of IOCL. Shri Pradhan noted that Myanmar is an important element of India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and also the friendship bridge to ASEAN countries.

Both Ministers expressed their keenness to work towards further strengthening the bilateral engagements in the hydrocarbon sector and make it one of the important areas of bilateral cooperation between both the countries.

YB