Blocks for oil, gas exploration could be offered in 2013-14: Moily

Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerrappa Moily Tuesday said exploration blocks are likely to be offered in the current fiscal after getting the necessary clearances.

While chairing a meeting of his ministry's Parliamentary Consultative Committee here,

Moily said the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) had carved out exploration areas of about 2.7 lakhs square kilometres, for which process of the inter-ministerial clearances had been initiated.

"On completion of clearance process, exploration blocks are likely to be offered in 2013-14," he said.

The minister said only 73 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas could be established so far through exploration, out of 205 billion barrels of prognosticated hydrocarbon resources. Thus, about 133 billion barrels of prognosticated resources remain to be unlocked through exploration.

The ministry has constituted a committee under the chairmanship former finance secretary Vijay Kelkar to prepare a roadmap for enhancing domestic production of oil and gas and sustainable reduction in import dependency by 2030.