Govt offers 42 hydrocarbon blocks for exploration and development

As many as 26 mainly offshore oil and gas blocks and 16 coal bed methane blocks have been notified for international bidding as India aims to quickly increase the area under exploration

The government has put up as many as 42 oil and gas blocks for exploration and development through international competitive bidding.

According to announcements made by upstream regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), this includes 26 oil and gas blocks offered under the Open Acre Licensing Policy (OALP), along with 16 blocks for prospecting for coal-bed methane.

The government has not given a timeline for the bidding for the 26 oil and gas blocks. These cover an area of approximately 223,000 square kilometers (sq. km), constituting one of the largest such offerings in recent times. Of the 26 blocks, 18