The government launches OALP-IX bid round including 28 blocks

The 28 blocks on offer in the OALP-IX round are located throughout eight sedimentary basins and contain nine onland blocks, eight shallow water blocks, and 11 ultra-deepwater blocks.

The Indian government released the ninth round of open acreage licencing policy (OALP-IX) for foreign competitive bidding, offering 28 blocks totalling around 1,36,596 square kilometres on January 3.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) also signed contracts for ten OALP bid round-VIII blocks and three coal bed methane (CBM) blocks awarded under a special CBM Bid Round-SCBM 2022.
ONGC was awarded seven of the ten blocks in the OALP-VIII round, while a consortium of Reliance Industries Limited and BP Plc received one. Sun Petrochemicals Pvt Ltd and Oil India Limited (OIL) each received one block.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, stated that the signing ceremony for OALP-VIII and SCBM-2022, as well as the beginning of the OALP-IX bid round, is a critical step in securing India's energy security.

Puri said, “…currently only 10% of Indian sedimentary basin area is under active exploration, however, with the initiatives of government, more areas will come under exploration and it is estimated that after award of blocks under forthcoming OALP-IX and X Bid Rounds, about 5,60,000 sq. km. area (16%) will come under exploration by end of year 2024.”

The 28 blocks on offer in the OALP-IX round are located throughout eight sedimentary basins and contain nine onland blocks, eight shallow water blocks, and 11 ultra-deepwater blocks. According to the government, with the publishing of the Notice Inviting Offer (NIO), bidders would be able to review the data available in the National Data Repository (NDR) and pick blocks for bidding.

Bidders will be able to submit their proposals using an online e-bidding portal beginning at 12:00 hrs on January 3, 2024, and will be able to do so until 1200 hrs on February 29, 2024, according to the announcement.