India Offers 42 Hydrocarbon Blocks in Latest Auction

Nidhi Verma
Tuesday, October 11, 2022

India is offering 26 oil and gas blocks and 16 coal bed methane blocks in its latest exploration licensing round, according to the country's upstream regulator, as the world's third largest oil consumer seeks to boost local output.

"There is an unprecedented interest in Indian exploration and production by global oil companies," oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted on Tuesday after a roadshow in Houston in the United States.

India, also the world's third-biggest oil importer, ships in about 84% of its oil needs from overseas and wants to quickly monetize its oil and gas reserves to cut its import bill.

The 26 blocks - 15 ultra deep-water blocks, 8 shallow water, and 3 on-land blocks - cover an area of 223,000 square kilometers (86,101 sq. miles), according to a notice posted on the website of upstream regulator the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons.

India has so far seen a tepid response from major global energy players in its oil and gas licensing rounds.

In Houston, Puri met executives from Exxon Mobil XOM.N, oilfield service provider Baker Hughes, and with liquefied natural gas producers after launching a bidding round for offshore oil and gas exploration areas.

India is interested in the U.S companies' technical expertise in offshore production, ethanol and sulfur recovery in oil refineries, Puri told Reuters in an interview. 

 (Reporting by Nidhi Verma; Editing by Susan Fenton)

Categories: Energy Drilling Industry News Activity Production Asia

Related Stories

BP Greenlights $7B CCUS Scheme Tied to Indonesia LNG Facility

Blackford Dolphin Kicks Off Long-Term Drilling Campaign Offshore India

Shelf Drilling Secures $200M Contract Extensions with Chevron for Thailand Ops

CNOOC Starts Production at Another Oil Field in South China Sea

Nong Yao C Development Bolsters Valeura’s Production Rates Off Thailand

First Oil Starts Flowing at CNOOC’s South China Sea Field

TotalEnergies Extends LNG Supply Agreement with CNOOC Until 2034

CNOOC Brings Online Another South China Sea Field

Valeura Produces First Oil from Nong Yao Extension Off Thailand

Equinor Picks SHI as Preferred Supplier for Korean 750 MW Floating Wind Project

Current News

Velesto Completes Removal of Wrecked Naga 7 Jack-Up Rig Off Malaysia

BP Greenlights $7B CCUS Scheme Tied to Indonesia LNG Facility

Sapura Scoops Petrobras Contract for Pan-Malaysia Offshore Services

Velesto’s Drilling Rigs Up for Automatization Overhaul Under New Tech Alliance

US Firm Finds Chinese Partner to Deliver Mobile Offshore Drilling Units

TotalEnergies and Oil India to Jointly Tackle Methane Emissions Issues

Keppel Reclaiming Control of 13 Rigs to Cash In on Offshore Drilling Market's Growth

Global Offshore Wind Stumbles to the End of '24

Seatrium Delivers Fifth Jack-Up to Borr Drilling

Malaysia's FPSO Firm Bumi Armada Eyes Merger with MISC’s Offshore Unit

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com