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India lines up Nelp 7 bonanza



By Upstream staff 

India plans to auction 80 new oil and gas blocks in August in its largest-ever exploration licencing round, an Oil Ministry official said today.

The seventh auction under the New Exploration Licencing Policy (Nelp), launched in 1999, had been delayed due to the size of the sale, the official, who could not be named, told Reuters.

In March, India's Director General of Hydrocarbons Vinod Kumar Siba told Upstream that between 80 and 85 blocks, including "the whole west coast" would be up for grabs in Nelp 7.

The source told the news agency today: "Earlier we had plans to launch it in April-May. But due to a large number of blocks and associated clearances from various departments, and data collection on these blocks, we now hope to launch it sometime in August."

Both onshore and offshore blocks will be on offer.

New Delhi has awarded 162 oil and gas blocks in the previous six Nelp rounds, 52 of those in February, when most ended up in the hands of domestic public sector companies. Oil & Natural Gas Corporation received almost half.

India plans to change the rules for the next round to attract greater interest from overseas companies with a better record of finding hydrocarbons than their domestic counterparts.


Monday, 14 May, 2007, 09:08 GMT  | last updated: Monday, 14 May, 2007, 09:09 GMT

All lined up: India is set to offer 80 blocks under the Nelp 7 round, an official claimed today
 

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