The Hindu Business Line : Nine new bidders for 22 oil, gas blocks

BRITISH energy major BG, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Russia's Zarubezneftgaz, were among the nine first time bidders for the 24 oil and gas exploration blocks offered under the fourth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

In total, 19 companies submitted 44 bids for 22 blocks of the 24 blocks on offer, the Petroleum Minister, Mr Ram Naik, told news persons here today. "The response this time has been better than the previous three rounds of bidding," he said. Reliance Industries tied up with Hardy Oil of the UK to bid for eight of the 12 deepwater blocks on offer while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) along with its partner bid for 20 blocks.

Of the 19 companies that submitted bids, 12 were of domestic origin and the remaining nine foreign. Six blocks received single bids while two blocks in Manipur and Palar basin offshore did not elicit any response.

Zarubezneftgaz, a subsidiary of Russian gas firm Gazprom, bid for a Gujarat onland block along with GAIL (India) Ltd. Meanwhile, BG bid on its own for a Mahanadi basin deep-sea block. It also bid in consortium with GAIL for a Kerala-Konkan basin deep-sea block. Niko Resources bid on its own for two deep-sea blocks in Mahanadi basin and one in Andaman sea. Mr Naik said, the bids would be evaluated in the next two months and they would be awarded by December end.

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