Government of India has signed 310 Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) under Pre New Exploration Licensing Policy (Pre-NELP)and New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) so far. Details of 310 PSCs are as under:
|
BIDDING ROUND
|
TOTAL BLOCKS
|
ACTIVE BLOCKS
|
|
Field
|
28
|
25
|
|
Pre-NELP
|
28
|
10
|
|
NELP I
|
24
|
3
|
|
NELP II
|
23
|
3
|
|
NELP III
|
23
|
4
|
|
NELP IV
|
20
|
4
|
|
NELP IX
|
19
|
15
|
|
NELP V
|
20
|
5
|
|
NELP VI
|
52
|
10
|
|
NELP VII
|
41
|
12
|
|
NELP VIII
|
32
|
10
|
|
Grand Total
|
310
|
101
|
Government notified the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) in March, 2016 to replace the NELP. The new exploration policy provides for single license for exploration and exploitation of conventional as well as un-conventional hydrocarbon resources, flexibility to carve out exploration acreages, a Revenue Sharing model and marketing and pricing freedom for the Crude oil & Natural gas produced. Under HELP Policy, 55 Blocks having an acreage area of 59,282 Sq. Km. have been awarded in October 2018 under Bid Round-I. Under Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round-II, bidding for 14 blocks having an acreage area of 29,233 Sq. Km. hasbeen launched on 7th January, 2019. The details of blocks offered under OALP Bid Round-II are as follows:
|
Onland Blocks
(Area 13733 Sq KM)
|
Shallow Water Blocks
(Area 13986 Sq KM)
|
Ultra Deepwater Block
(Area 1514 Sq KM)
|
- Rajasthan -01
- Mahanadi-04
- Cambay-02
- Cauvery-01
|
- Kutch -02
- Andaman & Nicobar -02
- Mahanadi-01
|
|
Government has notified the policy framework for streamlining the working of Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for increasing domestic production of hydrocarbon resources on 14th
August, 2018. The policy framework includes (i) Sharing of Royalty and Cess in proportion to Participating Interest of the Contractors in Pre-NELP Exploration Blocks and to be cost recoverable;
(ii) Additional two years for Exploration activities and additional one year for appraisal activities for operational blocks in North Eastern Region (NER) besides marketing including pricing freedom for natural gas produced in NER; (iii) Allowing extension of notice period from 7 days to 15 days in events of force majeure in operational blocks of Pre-NELP and NELP contracts, and (iv) Extending Tax benefits under section 42 of Income Tax Act, 1961 to Pre-NELP discovered fields during extended period under the Policy for Pre-NELP PSC Extension dated 28.03.2016.
This information was given by Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.
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YKB/SK