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India Announces 2nd Round of $14b Oil, Gas Bidding

India Announces 2nd Round of $14b Oil, Gas Bidding
India Announces 2nd Round of $14b Oil, Gas Bidding

India has launched the second round of bidding for small fields estimated to contain as much as US$14 billion (1 trillion Indian rupees) worth of oil and gas reserves.

The Indian government has launched the Discovered Small Fields Bid Round-II, offering 25 contract areas for international competitive bidding, Oil Price reported.

The 25 contract areas contain a total of 59 oil and gas fields in this second round under the DSF policy, following a first competitive round in 2016.

The government has set the deadline for filing the bids for December 18, 2018.

The signing of contracts with the successful bidders for the 59 discovered small oil and gas fields in the 25 contract areas is likely to take place in January next year, the Indian Ministry of Petroleum said.

Encouraged by the success of the first such round of competitive bidding for small discovered fields, India hopes to attract “massive interest” from the oil and gas industry, especially from private operators, because the government is offering larger field areas in already-producing basins, Indian Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

India aims to raise its domestic oil and gas production, and possibly cut its massive crude oil import bill as its oil demand is expected to continue to grow in the foreseeable future. Currently, India imports around 80% of the crude oil it consumes.

The second discovered small fields bid round does not require previous technical experience for bidders, allows for easy entry of investors as well as investor-friendly policy, according to India’s Petroleum Ministry.

There will be a single license issued for all types of oil and gas resources that operators want to pursue in the areas awarded to them.

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