OALP

State-owned ONGC, OIL and GAIL walked away with most of the eight blocks offered for exploration and production of oil and gas in the OALP 7th bid round even as the government launched the next round

Sun Petrochemicals bid for three blocks, where it is locked in competition with ONGC

Award of these blocks is likely to be completed by the end of March 2022

On Monday, ExxonMobil had signed a pact with Indian Oil Corporation to expand its liquefied natural gas business initiatives in India

In all, 18,509.69 square kilometre of area for exploration of oil and gas has been offered in the fourth bid round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy

The blocks are expected to see cumulative peak production of 15,000 barrels and two million standard cubic metres a day of gas

ONGC has submitted interests for 7 areas, while the other companies likely include Mukesh Ambani-led RIL and Bharat PetroResources

RIL and global giants BP, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips stay away; govt receives 110 bids in all

According to petroleum ministry, after the ninth round of NELP in 2010, a total of 117 companies are operating in India, of which 48 are foreign companies