Total won't be bidding in NELP-VII
Few international majors are unduly worried by the Indian government’s lack of clarity over whether to grant a seven-year tax holiday for gas producers.
For some it makes no difference when assessing NELP-VII blocks. Take French major Total.
“The tax holiday was never a serious issue,â€‌ reports a source. “Total never even got to the stage of studying the economics of production because the blocks on offer are technically of no interest.
â€‌ Geoscientists at Total, it seems, took a hard look at two blocks in the Krishna Godavari basin, one in shallow water and one in deep water, but eventually decided to make a recommendation to senior management not to bid, if bidding indeed there is by the increasingly elusive deadline of June 30. “There were insufficient â€کaccumulations’ in the blocks,â€‌ adds our source.
“In simple terms you could say Total didn’t see the â€کreserves’ or â€کresources’ during evaluation. There wasn’t enough there for the company to get interested in.
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