Naik announces 27 blocks under NELP-III
IF ENTHUSIASM could strike oil then India would have it in abundance.
On 9th April oil minister Ram Naik announced another 27 exploration blocks for auction to Indian and foreign explorers at the launch of the third round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy at the Meridien Hotel in Delhi. With better than ever fiscal terms, Naik said the deadline for submission of bids is 28th August.
Behind the scenes, the man ultimately responsible for selecting who will win what, Dr Avinash Chandra, Director General of the DGH, forcefully argued that India is not offering recycled acreage. With graphs, maps and numbers to hand, Chandra slams those that says it is.
Chandra tells PETROWATCH the 27 blocks have been divided into three categories: those which have never been auctioned before (4); those which have been auctioned before but had little or no data but now do because the DGH is providing it (9); and those which have been auctioned before with limited ONGC or Oil India data which has been reprocessed, reinterpreted and repackaged by the DGH (14). According to Chandra, this means thirteen blocks (nine in the deep water, one in shallow water and three onland) can justifiably be termed new.
Category 1 Basin Block Name Block No. Shallow Water Krishna Godavari KG-OSN-2001/3 6 Onland Assam-Arakan AA-ONN-2001/3 10 Cambay CB-ONN-2001/1 17 Pranhita-Godavari PG-ONN-2001/1 18 Category 2 Basin Block Name Block No.
Deepwater Kerala Konkan KK-DWN-2001/1 D1 KK-DWN-2001/2 D2 KK-DWN-2001/3 D3 Cauvery CY-DWN-2001/1 D4 CY-DWN-2001/2 D5 CY-PR-DWN-2001/3 D6 CY-PR-DWN-2001/4 D7 PR-DWN-2001/4 D8 Krishna Godavari KG-DWN-2001/1 D9 Category 3 Basin Block Name Block No. Shallow Water (6) Saurashtra GS-OSN-2001/1 1 Kerala Konkan KK-OSN-2001/1 2 KK-OSN-2001/2 3 KK-OSN-2001/3 4 KG-OSN-2001/1 5 Krishna Godavari KG-OSN-2001/3 7 Onland (8) Assam-Arakan AA-ONN-2001/1 8 AA-ONN-2001/2 9 AA-ONN-2001/3 11 Bengal WB-ONN-2001/1 12 Purnea PA-ONN-2001/1 13 Vindhyan VN-ONN-2001/1 14 Himalayan Foreland HF-ONN-2001/1 15 Rajasthan RJ-ONN-2001/1 16