India will offer at least 56 oil and gas blocks for bidding under completely revamped terms, Oil Secretary Vivek Rae said on Monday.
“We will profile 56 blocks at the Petrotech conference next week. But notice inviting tender (or bids) will come out some time next month,” he said on the sidelines of an industry event here.
The 10th round of auction under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP-X) will require bidders to quote the amount of oil or gas output they are willing to offer to the government from the first day of production, he said.
The terms are the same suggested by a panel headed by Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan for awarding future oil and gas block contracts. The company offering the highest share of oil or gas produced from the field would get the block, Rae said.
Currently, oil companies recover costs of exploration and production before sharing profit with the government.
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