Oil block auction flops

New Delhi

Oct. 12: India’s largest auction of oil and gas blocks on Monday got a muted response as only 36 blocks were bid for as against the 70 blocks offered.
The petroleum ministry blamed the global downturn as the main reason for the poor show. “You may think that the number (of bids) is less but if you look at the performances of biding through out the world this year, we have done better than many. Infact (the response India) got is one of the best,” said the petroleum secretary, Mr R.S. Pandey.
The Centre had launched the eighth bid round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-VIII) and fourth bid round of Coal Bed Methane Policy (CBM-IV) in April.
Reliance Industries didn’t bid for the oil blocks but only for one block in CBM.
Oil regulator DGH V. K. Sibal said the message India gave by holding the bidding is that in the downturn “we had guts to go to the market.”
Of 45 companies participated in the bidding, seven were foreign. As many as 20 blocks (eight deepwater, two onland and one in type-S block) got single bids, which no competition.
Results for the offshore blocks, which were available, showed ONGC getting 11 blocks, BHP Biliton of Australia three, Cairn Energy two, Onkar two and BG, Oil India limited and Bengal energy one each. In the onland blocks, ONGC got two, Jubilant two, Oil India one, Harish chandra two.
Source::DC