Policy basics

The difference between the hydrocarbon exploration and licensing policy and the new exploration and licensing policy

The government on Thursday decided to restructure the licensing regime for oil and gas exploration. Apart from the following differences between HELP and NELP, the new policy will also offer open acreage. Unlike NELP, where blocks were carved out and put for auction, the open acreage policy allows oil companies to select an area (or acreage) based on geological data and apply to the government for a licence. Such an area is subsequently offered for open bidding with the initial proposal as the benchmark for bids.