India hands out 35 oil and gas blocks in latest bid round

NEW DELHI, September 13, 2022 – India has awarded contracts for 31 discovered small fields (DSFs) and four coal bed methane blocks to ONGC, Cairn Oil & Gas and 12 other local entities in its latest oil and gas bidding round, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri announced on Friday.

Indian NOC ONGC signed six contracts for DSFs, with three in the Arabian Sea and three in the Bay of Bengal. The company has full possession of four of these areas, with two concessions held in partnership with Indian Oil Corporation.

ONGC has set aside USD 1.9 billion to develop the six plays.

Cairn Oil & Gas signed contracts for eight DSFs and one coal bed methane block. The DSFs consist of five offshore blocks on the Cambay, Kutch, Mumbai and Krishna Godavari basins and three onshore concessions, with two on the Assam basin and one on the Madhya Pradesh basin.

India’s largest private oil and gas company hopes to produce 84 million bopd from these new awards in the next 10 to 20 years.

The Indian government put up 75 fields in its third DSF bidding round in May 2022.

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