Bids for the 20 blocks being offered under NELP-5 will close on May 31. Eight blocks are new while the others are being offered for bidding with extensive new data, the Indo-Asian News Service reported.
“Of the deep-water blocks, two each are on the east and west coast and two in the prospective Andaman area," petroleum and natural gas minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said.
The 12 onshore blocks are in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
"The NELP-5 round has been launched in the backdrop of huge oil and gas discoveries made by Reliance Industries Limited [RIL] and Niko Resources in Krishna-Godavari deepwaters, by Cairn Energy in Barmer district of Rajasthan state and by RIL in northeast coast offshore," Aiyar said.
RIL's gas discoveries in the Krishna-Godavari basin are estimated to have over 14 trillion cubic feet of in-place gas, while Cairn Energy has reported an in-place oil reserve of over 300 million barrels.
The new discoveries over the past three years have helped increase the gas reserves by 50%.
Overseas roadshows to support the bidding will be held in London, Dubai, Houston, Calgary and Moscow.
During the roadshows, presentations will be made on emerging geological prospectivity of Indian basins and the new contractual and fiscal features of the new round of exploration blocks on offer, Aiyar said.
In addition to offering the 20 exploration blocks, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will use the opportunity to seek investor participation in 19 marginal fields being offered for service contracts or technical collaboration.
