Govt extends OALP-X, XI bid deadline again to Nov 15

New Delhi, The government has once again extended the deadline for submitting bids under the country's latest oil and gas exploration licensing rounds, giving companies two more months until November 15, 2026, to bid for the deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks under OALP-X and OALP-XI, according to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).

The latest extension is the second further postponement of the deadline for the offshore acreage after the government had earlier pushed the closing date to September 17.

While DGH did not give any reasons for the extension of the deadline, industry sources said the move may be linked to the recently announced Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme.


The Rs 84,084 crore scheme, aimed at unlocking India's offshore hydrocarbon potential and targeting more than 600 million tonnes of oil-equivalent additional reserves, provides for the government to bear up to 50 per cent of the cost of drilling deep-sea and ultra-deep-sea wells.

The Union Cabinet had approved the scheme at the end of July, but rules for implementation of the scheme are yet to be announced.

Sources said pending framing of the rules that will guide how the scheme will be implemented, the bidding deadline has been extended.

The repeated extensions also highlight the challenges of attracting investors to India's more technically demanding offshore exploration acreage even as the government seeks to accelerate domestic oil and gas exploration and reduce reliance on imports.

SIX EXTENSIONS FOR OALP-X

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The tenth bid round under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) was launched in February 2025, offering 25 blocks covering about 1,82,589 sq km across 13 sedimentary basins, making it the largest OALP round by acreage at the time.

The round included six onshore blocks, six shallow-water blocks, one deepwater block and 12 ultra-deepwater blocks. Of the total acreage, 19 blocks are offshore, with 13 deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks covering about 124,327 sq km.

According to the DGH, bidding for onshore and shallow-water blocks closed on June 19, 2026, while the deadline for deepwater and ultra-deepwater acreage was subsequently extended to September 17.

The deadline has now been extended till November 15.

OALP-X has now seen six extensions of its bid deadline. Bidding was originally scheduled to close at the end of July 2025, but the deadline was extended to October 31 and again to December 31, 2025. The deadline was then extended till February 18 before being extended to September 17 and now till November 15, 2026.

OALP-XI ALSO PUSHED BACK

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OALP-XI was launched in March 2026 with 21 blocks covering 80,234.49 sq km across 11 sedimentary basins.

The round comprises 12 onshore blocks, four shallow-water blocks, one deepwater block and four ultra-deepwater blocks. Nine of the blocks are offshore, covering about 45,296 sq km.

Bidding began on March 30, with the onshore and shallow-water portion closing on June 19. The remaining deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks had previously been given a September 17 deadline and have now been extended again to November 15.

The latest move means OALP-XI has also undergone multiple deadline changes since its launch, as the government seeks to give potential bidders additional time to assess the offshore acreage.

The concentration of the extensions in deepwater and ultra-deepwater acreage is significant. Such blocks typically require greater upfront capital, sophisticated technology and longer exploration timelines than onshore or shallow-water assets.

OALP-X and XI are also important to India's broader effort to expand domestic exploration. The government has been seeking to make exploration more attractive through measures, including simplified licensing, revenue-sharing terms, marketing and pricing freedom and greater access to geological and geophysical data.

DGH has described the OALP programme as part of its effort to accelerate exploration and production and attract global investment into India's upstream sector.

India imports over 88 per cent of its crude oil and about half of its natural gas requirement, making higher domestic exploration and production a key part of its energy-security strategy.

The Open Acreage Licensing Policy, introduced under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy framework, allows companies to submit expressions of interest for acreage and participate in bidding rounds for blocks identified by the government.

OALP-X is particularly significant because of its large offshore component, while OALP-XI further expands the government's offering of deepwater and ultra-deepwater acreage.

The repeated extensions suggest that while the government is pushing aggressively to expand India's exploration footprint, securing sufficient investor interest in technically complex offshore acreage remains a challenge.

With the latest extension, companies now have until November 15, 2026, to submit bids for the remaining deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks in both OALP-X and OALP-XI. PTI