Our Bureau The hydrocarbon industry must focus on boosting domestic oil and gas production to help meet the growing demand, said Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, on Tuesday.

Speaking at the signing ceremony here for 32 contract areas awarded under the second and third Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) bid rounds, Pradhan said: “If you have any problems, feel free to come to me or the Petroleum Ministry officials, but please do not delay projects.”

India’s demand for energy is projected to soon outpace China’s, noted the minister.

The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons had offered 14 blocks in the second round and 23 blocks in the third round of bids under OALP. Bidding for these rounds closed on May 15 and, after evaluation, six companies were awarded 32 blocks.

Oil India Ltd won the highest number (12) of blocks while Vedanta came second with 10 blocks.

Utpal Bora, CMD, Oil India, said the strategy of the company is to consolidate its position as the leading operator in the North-East and carry out exploration in category II and III basins.

New discoveries

Ajay Kumar Dixit, CEO of Cairn Oil & Gas, a vertical of Vedanta Ltd, said: “We are looking forward to initiate our exploration programme in the new blocks as we aim to increase domestic production. With a project management partner on board, and more partnerships in the pipe line, we will aggressively chase new discoveries in these blocks.”

Reliance Indsustries and its British partner BP Plc signed a contract for the sole KG basin gas they had bid, while IndianOil, too, got one block.

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