New Delhi: State-owned ONGC and Vedanta Ltd on Wednesday emerged as the biggest bidders for oil and gas blocks, putting in 41 out of 56 bids received in India's maiden auction under open acreage licensing regime.
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) put in expression of interest for 41 areas while Vedanta's oil unit, Cairn India sought rights over 15 areas, sources privy to the development said.
Hindustan Oil Exploration Co (HOEC) bid for one area in a round that was shunned by biggies like Reliance Industries.
India in July opened 2.8 million sq km of sedimentary basins for oil and gas exploration in a bid to raise domestic production and cut excessive dependence on imports. The Open Acreage Licensing (OAL) allows companies to select blocks or areas after studying seismic data to explore and produce oil and gas. The first round of bidding closes on Wednesday.
In all, 56 expressions of interest or EoIs have been received so far, source said. Oil India Ltd (OIL) is the other main bidder while the rest are smaller companies.
BP plc team visited data room but has not put in any bids so far, they said.
OAL replaces the old system of government carving out areas and bidding them out. OAL allows investors to carve out their own areas and put in an EoI. Once an EoI is received for an area, it is put on competitive bidding and any company offering the government maximum share of oil and gas is awarded the block.
The last date for submission of EoI in the first cycle of bidding under OAL was on Wednesday and winners would be announced by January 1.