New Delhi: Energy firms have committed investments worth $582.29 million in oil and gas exploration from 13 blocks, awarded in the recent bidding round, the oil ministry said.
"Investment level will increase with further development of discoveries," the ministry said in a statement.
The government had signed production sharing contracts (PSCs) for 13 exploration blocks on Mar 28. These blocks were awarded under the ninth round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (Nelp-IX).
The government offered 34 blocks in Nelp-IX but managed to get takers for only 13 on the day of signing contracts.
With the signing of PSCs for 13 blocks, total number PSCs rose to 248 PSCs. But country has only 106 discoveries.
The government plans to launch 10th round of exploration blocks (Nelp-X) only after making the bidding process more transparent and automatic, an oil ministry official said.
The government launched Nelp-IX bidding round on Oct 15, 2010 with 34 blocks covering an area of about 88,807 sq. km. The offered included eight deepwater blocks, seven shallow water blocks and 19 onland blocks (including eight type-S blocks). Bids were opened by DGH on Mar 28, 2011. A total of 74 bids were received for 33 blocks. No bid was received for one exploration block in shallow water. The 74 bids received for 33 blocks were evaluated by DGH.
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