KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – India is likely to offer 26 unexplored oil and gas fields to domestic and international exploration and production (E&P) majors to kick-start the government’s newly unveiled Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).

Prospective investors have been allowed access to geological data on these oil and gas fields and, although no official confirmation is available, sources say the bidding process will open in the next two months.

Under the OALP, prospective bidders will be free to bid for any of the potential oil and gas fields, but the government has reserved the right to invite counter bids before awarding the field.

Last month, the government formally approved the launch of OALP under which domestic and foreign E&Ps will be free to carve out areas from demarcated fields and choose where they want to explore.

An official familiar with the process pointed out that once an investor carved out a block and submitted an offer, it would trigger an invitation for counter bids, which would also be considered before the government awards the bid.

The directorate general for hydrocarbons would provide prospective investors with access to the National Data Repository, which would enable the investor to make an informed decision on putting in bids for exploration and subsequent production, the official added.

“In the new model, the government will not micro-manage, [or] micro-monitor the producers. The government will only take a share of the revenue. It will be an open and regular affair,” Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in a recent media statement.

Although officials were hesitant to divulge details, claiming that it was still “too early days of the new OALP”, industry sources say it is possible that the government will put on offer an estimated three-million square kilometres of unexplored sedimentary basin in the current financial year.

The OALP will demand stricter prequalification requirements than the marginal and small oil and gas fields that government recently awarded. The OALP requires that an investor has at least a year’s experience in operating, as well as a record of holding an acreage as per specific technical parameters laid down under the policy.