3rd round of oil, gas auction under OALP launched; 23 blocks up for bidding

It is expected that OALP round-III would generate immediate exploration work commitment of around $600-700 mn

India on Sunday launched its third round of petroleum and natural gas auctions under the open acreage licencing policy (OALP) in which a total of 23 blocks are up for bidding by global oil and gas majors. Interestingly, this comes at a time when production from OALP-1 is expected to start only in 2025.   

This will cover an area of approximately 32,000 square kilometres. Out of the total blocks on offer, 18 were carved out of expressions of interest submitted by various companies. The government has carved out an additional five blocks to augment coal bed methane (CBM) production