Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) bagged eight out of the 18 oil and gas blocks awarded today under the new exploration licensing policy - V (NELP-V).Reliance Industries got five blocks, officials associated with the process said today.Twenty blocks - 12 onland, two shallow water and six deepwater - were auctioned under NELP-V, but the cabinet committee on economic affairs today awarded only 18 blocks referring the bids for the remaining two blocks to the law ministry, an official release added.A minimum investment of Rs 1,653 crore ($380 million) has been committed in Phase-I of the exploration programme in the 18 blocks awarded today. All three phases of exploration and production would see an investment of Rs 3,771 crore ($867 million).While the Oil India-Hindustan Petroleum Corporation combine won one onland block in Assam (AA-ONN-2003/3), the consortium of Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation-Gail India-Jubilant Capital-Geo Global Resources got the Cambay basin onland block of CB-ONN-2003/2.ONGC won only two blocks - the Andaman sea block of AN-DWN-2003/1 and the Cambay Basin shallow water block CB-OSN-2003/1 - on its own, and won the remaining in partnership with Eni of Italay and Cairn Energy of UK.Reliance Industries, on its own, bagged two Kerala-Konkan deepsea blocks and one Cambay Basin onland block CB-ONN-2003/1. It partnered with Hardy Exploration of UK to win the Krishna Godavari deepsea block of KG-DWN-2003/1 and teamed up with Niko Resources of Canada to bag the Mahanada Basin block MN-DWN-2003/1.
