The petroleum ministry is planning to offer 80 oil and gas blocks in the seventh round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in mid-August. "We are still finalising the number of on-land and offshore blocks. Most likely, it is going to be 50:50," V K Sibal, Director General, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons told reporters today. He added that the blocks would mostly be off the western coast. NELP was launched in 1999, and the proposed auction would be the largest single round. The ministry has awarded 162 oil and gas blocks in the previous six rounds.In February, under NELP-VI, the ministry allotted 52 blocks of which 21 deep-water blocks were awarded to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). The government is expected to collect nearly $12 billion from blocks auctioned under NELP-VI.
