Open Acreage Licensing Programme(OALP) Bid Round-VII:
In continuation of its aggressive programme for exploration and adhering to the prescribed timelines, the Government has launched the Open Acreage Licensing Programme(OALP) Bid Round-VII for International Competitive Bidding.
- The bids can be submitted through a dedicated online e-bidding portal till 1200 hrs. on February 15, 2022. Award of these blocks is likely be completed by the end of March 2022.
- Successful award of Round-VII Blocks would add further 15,766 sq. km of exploration acreage and cumulative acreage under OALP will be increased to 207,692 sq. km.
- The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) was approved in March 2016.
- In continuation to its determination for reduction in import dependency of oil and gas and accelerating E&P activities, the Government notified the further policy reforms in Exploration and Licensing Policy in February, 2019.
- The focus was shifted from ‘revenue’ to ‘production’ maximization’.
- Since the launch of HELP on 30 March 2016, five rounds of OALP have been concluded for 105 E&P blocks; award of 21 blocks under sixth round of OALP is under progress.
- These 126 blocks comprise about 191,926 sq.km. of area spread across 18 sedimentary basins.
- The Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP), which adopts the Revenue Sharing Contract model, is a significant step towards improving the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the Indian Exploration and Production (E&P) sector.
