No takers for half the oil & gas blocks auctioned under NELP

NEW DELHI: Drawing a poor response, India���s largest oil and gas licensing round saw a total of 76 bids being received for 36 out of 70 blocks on offer.

While Reliance Industries abstained from bidding for the 70 exploration blocks on offer in the eighth round of auction under the NELP, companies like BHP Biliton of Australia, BG of UK and Cairn Energy were the only notable companies besides home grown giants like ONGC, the joint secretary (Exploration), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, D N Narasimha Raju, said.

Of the 10 coal bed methane (CBM) blocks on offer, bids were received only for 8. RIL bid for one block.
Of the 24 deep water blocks on offer, bids were received only for eight. 13 shallow water blocks received bids while 10 small onland blocks got 37 bids while five larger onland blocks got 10 bids.

Meanwhile, upstream oil and gas regulator DGH has attributed the poor interest in auction of exploration blocks to the Ambani brothers��� gas dispute.

���The (gas) utilisation policy and the pricing are very well clarified in our Production Sharing Contract but these have been regrettably openly challenged,��� Director General of Hydrocarbons V K Sibal told reporters at the end of the eighth round of bidding for oil and gas blocks.

���This (legal challenge has) sent wrong signal across the world,��� Sibal said without naming the Anil Ambani group, which has challenged the government���s right to decide on commercial utilisation of gas and approve pricing of the same.

Anil-run RNRL is seeking to enforce a 2005 family pact requiring elder brother Mukesh-headed Reliance Industries to supply natural gas from its KG-D6 field to a plant in Uttar Pradesh at a price 44 per cent cheaper than the government- approved rate of $4.20 per mmBtu.

The Supreme Court is slated to start hearing on the matter from October 20.

���When you invite investment, the signals are what matter the most. We have one of the best PSCs in the world, but wrong signals have gone resulting in what you say is a poor response,��� said Sibal, who the Anil Ambani group has charged with favouring Mukesh Ambani-led RIL.

Essar Oil was the most aggressive bidder bidding for six CBM blocks, RIL one, while Arrow Energy of Australia bid for two. ONGC bid for one block in consortium with Jindal Petroleum and Neyvelli Lignite. Sibal had earlier said that ���negative publicity because of the fight between two corporate giants��� would result in fewer bids. ���Any fight between corporates has a negative impact. No fight has a positive impact.���