GSPC says 'bank guarantee' no issue; DGH lifts ban on GSPC bid NELP

Ahmedabad, June 22 (UNI) Even as Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) has claimed that 'bank guarantee' is no issue, Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) today withdrew the 'ban' on GSPC bidding for future New Exploration Licencing Policy (NELP).

GSPC managing diector D J Pandian has also shot a letter to Union Ministry of Petroleum&Natural Gas (MoPNG) joint secretary Sunjoy Joshi to ''correct the adverse impact about GSPC' performance in CB-ON-2 block,'' a senior GSPC officer told UNI here today.

As per Article 4.1 of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC), he said, GSPC was supposed to provide bank guarantee for two wells in the basin under dispute for the particular financial year, which it furnished in February 2005 itself.

And, yet, DGH had issued a notice to GSPC on June 5, 2006 for termination of participating interest in CB-ON-2, attributing non-submission of bank gaurantee as the reason for termination.

In the same notice, DGH had also incidcated to debar GSPC from participation in the forthcoming and future rounds of NELP.

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