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Oil blocks may draw $8-10 bn

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BS Reporter New Delhi
Last Updated : Feb 06 2013 | 5:51 AM IST
With an expected investment of $8-10 billion, the sixth round of auction of blocks for exploration of oil and gas - dubbed NELP VI - could be termed successful.
 
This investment is substantially more than the $6 billion that has so far come into the country from the five earlier rounds.
 
Indian and foreign companies bid individually and as partners for the 55 blocks on offer. Of these, the 24 high-risk deepwater blocks received 52 bids from energy majors like ONGC, Reliance Industries, BP Exploration, Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation and Cairn Energy. These are the blocks that will require the largest investments.
 
"NELP VI will lead India into joining the league of nations that will have one of the most extensive deep-sea exploration programmes undertaken by some of the world's leading deep-sea exploration companies," Anil Razdan, additional secretary in the petroleum ministry, told reporters.
 
There are 35 foreign companies in the list of bidders and these include some prominent first-timers like Total of France, Petronas of Malaysia and ENI of Italy.
 
The list also includes oil companies from the UK (BG, BP), Poland (PGNiG), Australia, Ukraine (Nafto Gaz), Panama (Hallworthy), Oman (Petrogas), Canada, Myanmar and Kuwait.
 
One absentee from the list of foreign bidders is the world's largest oil company Exxon Mobil of the US, which was widely expected to bid, as were Chevron and Conoco Phillips.
 
The participation from the US is limited to a company called JTI.
 
Brushing aside the no-shows, the director-general of the hydrocarbon directorate said, "We are very happy with the response. It is a successful round."
 
Interestingly, there are a few blocks in which two companies committed to a non-compete agreement, Reliance Industries, led by Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Natural Resources Ltd, led by younger sibling Anil Ambani, will be competing directly.
 
The government will now get down to evaluating the bids so that the blocks can be awarded by November 15. The next step, the signing of production sharing contracts, is expected to be completed by January 2007.
 
This is also the time the government is planning to initiate work on the next round of auction of blocks in under-explored India under NELP VII. This process is expected to be completed by end-2007.

 
 

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First Published: Sep 16 2006 | 12:00 AM IST

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