Oil & gas fields auction deferred by a month: DGH

New Delhi: The government has deferred by one month the auction of 25 oil and gas fields that hold resources worth an estimated Rs 1 lakh crore, upstream regulator DGH said.

The second round of Discovered Small Fields (DSF) auction opened in August and December 18 was the last date for submission of bids.

"Due to consistent demand of investors, the last date for submission of bids for India DSF Bid Round-II is now extended till 1200 hrs January 18, 2019," the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) said in a tweet.

Bids will be opened on the same day, it added.

In 2016, the government brought in a new DSF policy wherein 'idle' small discovered fields of state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) were taken away from the companies and auctioned to private players on liberalised terms including marketing and pricing freedom and lower taxes.

ONGC and OIL say they have not been able to develop the fields due to their small size and current capped prices making their development unviable. Private companies will, however, get full pricing and marketing freedom.