First round of bidding under OAL launched

The central government on Thursday launched the first round of bidding under the "Open Acreage Licensing" (OAL) programme for international competitive bidding.

"For the first time in India, 55 bidder-selected blocks, each carved out by prospective bidders themselves in promising basins with an area of 59,282 sq.km., were announced for bidding," the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas said in a statement.

"This is the largest offering of acreages the government has announced in the past eight years."

--IANS

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