Govt to offer 60-70 oil, gas blocks under NELP-VII

The government will announce the seventh round of New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP) in April and bids for the oil and gas blocks will be invited by July, said V K Sibal, director general, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, today.

"We are currently compiling the data packets. Announcement of NELP-VII is expected to be made by late April and bids would be invited from June-July," Sibal said.

He said the government was planning to offer around 60-70 oil and gas blocks, including offshore and onshore, under NELP-VII.

"We have been slightly delayed in the process as we want to realise maximum number of blocks under NELP-VII. The blocks would be identified in another two-three months," Sibal said.

The government is in the final stages of NELP-VI under which 55 oil and gas blocks were awarded to investors for exploration.

165 bids were received for 52 blocks and 68 companies, including 36 foreign and 32 Indian, had bid either on their own or as a consortium.

Besides the oil and gas blocks, the DGH is also planning to offer new coal bed methane (CBM-IV) blocks for exploration.

"We are in dialogue with the coal ministry as they have to give us the area for exploration," Sibal said, adding CBM-IV could be announced with NELP-VII.

The government has recently completed awarding 10 CBM blocks spread across six states under CBM-III.

Meanwhile, oil and gas body Directorate General of Hydrocarbons plans to launch an advanced seismic survey next year in the Krishna-Godavari Basin off Andhra Pradesh for further exploration of gas hydrates, Dinsha Patel, minister of state for petroleum and natural gas, said today.

"The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons has plans to carry out specialised survey 'Q-Marine' for mapping gas hydrates in the Krishna-Godavari area in the year 2007," he said in a written reply in Lok Sabha.

Natural gas hydrates are solid crystals consisting of gas molecules enclosed within water molecules, and found in marine sediment beneath the ocean on continental shelves.

"Technology for exploitation of gas hydrates is not available presently anywhere in the world, including India," the minister said.

The government launched a 4-legged drilling programme for gas hydrate on May 5 under the National Gas Hydrates Programme, at a budgeted cost of $36 million.

It announced in June that sizeable reserves of good quality gas hydrates have been discovered in the KG Basin while undertaking drilling activities in the area by the drillship JOIDES Resolution. Results had shown the presence of a 128-m thick layer of gas hydrate in the basin.

DGH plans to launch the 'Q-Marine' survey in KG Basin along with an international company specialising in undertaking such surveys.

"We will select the company through an international bidding process to be launched next year," V K Sibal, director general of DGH, said.

He said this will be an advanced seismic survey, which will help determine the exact area and volume of gas hydrates present in the basin.

It also plans to talk to Oil and Natural Gas Corp. and Reliance Industries, which are operating 'Q-Marine' vessels in the KG Basin, for using their vessels for the survey, Sibal added.