Govt extends bid deadline for small oil blocks

New Delhi: The government Monday extended the bid submission deadline for discovered small fields (DSF) round by a month to March 18, marking yet another extension in a bidding process that began last April.

This is the fourth DSF auction round, offering a total of 55 discoveries across nine contract areas. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), which conducts oilfield auctions, announced the revised deadline without citing any reason for the extension.

Under the DSF framework, small discoveries previously made by state-run explorers but left undeveloped due to perceived commercial unviability are offered to private and state-run companies under more financially attractive terms.