Govt to offer deep water blocks under Nelp-IV

NEW DELHI: The government will launch the fourth round of New Exploration & Licensing Policy (Nelp-IV) in a month. In this round, a “good number� of deep water blocks would be offered, petroleum minister Ram Naik said.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the three-day seminar on deep water technologies organised by the director-general (hydrocarbon) with Petrad of Norway here, he said deep sea exploration had become the ministry’s “fond child� after 10 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas reserves were found by Reliance in the Krishna Godavari basin. “Three deep water discoveries have been ma-de within three years of award of the contract under the Nelp-1 by Reliance-Niko consortium and Cairn Energy of the UK.�
Mr Naik refused to give the number of blocks to be offered, but added that multinational oil and gas giants have expressed interest in Nelp-IV. The grouse that global oil majors are keeping aw-ay from Nelp would disappear with the Nelp-IV. In the first three rounds, 24 blocks were offered for exploration. Exploration are estimated to cost about Rs 8,500 crore. In view of the high risk and huge investment required, meticulous adoption of technology would play a vital role in mitigating the costly risks, he said.