Govt receives 54 bids from 26 companies

New Delhi, Jun 30 (UNI) The government today said that it has received 54 bids for all the 10 blocks for exploration and production of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) under the third round, the highest offering under the CBM policy.

Speaking to reporters, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dinshaw Patel said a total of 26 companies including 8 foreign companies and 18 Indian companies have bid either on their own or as consortia.''All the blocks have attracted multiple bids,'' he said.

The foreign companies which have bid are Arrow Energy of Australia, CDX Gas, US, MOLOPO-Asutralia, OMIMEX-US, EIG USA-BP-UK, GeoPetrol-France, CoalGas-USA.

The Indian companies which have bid are --ONGC, RIL, Reliance Energy Limited (REL), Essar Oil Ltd, Oil India Ltd, Shiv-Vani, Indiabulls, Great Eastern Energy Corp Ltd (GEECL), GAIL, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd, Jubiliant Oil and Gas Pvt Ltd, IOC, Coal India Ltd (CIL), Adinath, GSPCL, Deep Industries, tata Power, Reliance Natural Resources Ltd (RNRL).

Mr Patel said the evaluation of the bids will now be undertaken by the government and the blocks are expected to be awarded within two months-by 31st August, 2006.

Director General Hydrocarbons V K Sibal saod the entire process would take just about four months from bid evaluation to the signing of contracts.''By October 31, all contracts will be signed for CBM,'' he said.

The government has already signed 16 contracts for exploration and production of CBM including five contracts in CBM-1 and 8 contracts under CMB-11.

An In-place reserve of about 6.2 trillion cubic feet has already been established in 4 blocks by RIL, ONGC and GEECL.

The first commercial production of CBM in the country is expected in 2007.''This will provide a new source of energy.By 2010-11, CBM gas rpoduction in the country is expected to be about 8to 10 Million Cubic Meters Per Day (MMSCMD),'' Mr Patel added.

India, Mr Sibal said is one of the select countries, which have undertaken steps through a transparent policy to harness the domestic CBM resources.

''The perception the world over has changed.The confidence for investing in India is building up,'' Mr Sibal said.

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