Oil Ministry launches seventh round for auction of oil and gas blocks

Since 2016, five rounds of Open Acreage Licensing Programme blocks have been concluded and 105 for Exploration and Production.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has launched the seventh bid round under the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP).

Eight blocks are being bid out under the round, said an official statement Tuesday. These include five on-land blocks (four in Category-I Basin and one in Category-III Basin), two shallow water blocks (both in Category-I Basin) and one ultra-deep-water block (Category-I Basin). "It is expected that OALP Round VII would generate an immediate exploration work commitment of around $ 300-400 million," the statement said.

These blocks are likely to be awarded by the end of March 2022. Successful award of Round-VII blocks