Oil Ministry holds investor meet for DSF-III, with 32 areas up for bidding

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas held an investor meet for the third round of Discovered Small Field (DSF) auctions. There are 75 oil and gas discoveries with 230 million tonnes of oil equivalent resources as 32 contract areas up for bidding in this round. This round was launched in June this year.

Speaking at the investor meet on Friday, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Hardeep Puri said, “India’s demand for energy will continue to grow.” He also invited foreign investors to participate in the domestic oil and gas sector.

Highlighting the demand potential in India, Puri said that the country's per capita consumption is poised to grow. According to him, as urbanisation increases, economic activities will speed up and the demand for energy will rise.

These DSF oil and gas discoveries were made by public sector undertaking oil companies, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Oil India. But they were eventually relinquished, citing unviability. This was either due to their small size or because of the restrictive fiscal regimes under which they were awarded to these firms.

Also speaking at the event, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Rameshwar Teli highlighted the strategic significance of North East Region in achieving country’s self-reliance in energy sector. He pointed out that there are three contract areas from the North East in this bid round.

In the first DSF round, the Centre had offered 46 contract areas spread across 67 fields. There were 25 contract areas covering 59 fields in the second round. After the first round, 30 contract areas were awarded while 24 were awarded after the second round.

An official statement said that the DSF rounds are held under the Revenue Sharing Model and a single license for Conventional and Unconventional Hydrocarbons is awarded.

There is no upfront signature bonus and a reduced Royalty rate in line with the Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP) regime. There will also be no cess, and full marketing and pricing freedom for the gas produced.