India launches second auction of small discovered oil & gas blocks

(Reuters) - India launched its second auction of small discovered oil and gas blocks on Thursday, as the south Asian nation looks to quickly monetise its hydrocarbon resources.

The bidding for 59 fields will begin in the first week of September and will close on Dec. 18.

The contracts will be awarded in January, oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.

The blocks offered under the latest round has reserves of about 1.4 billion barrels, he added.

(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)