Govt extends deadline for NELP VII bids to April 25

New Delhi, Mar 10 (UNI) Government today said it has extended the deadline for receiving bids for oil and gas exploration blocks, NELP-VII by two weeks to April 25, 2008, under the seventh round of bidding.

The closing date for receiving bids is now April 25 and the blocks will be announced by July-August 2008, said Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) Joint Secretary Anil Kumar.

To reduce import dependence of crude oil, the government recently launched the seventh round of bidding for oil and gas exploration blocks. NELP-VII is expected to attract 3.5-4 billion dollars in investment.

The government has offered 57 blocks in the seventh round of New Exploration Licensing Policy. Earlier, 56 discoveries were made by private and joint venture companies under the previous six rounds of auctions, inviting an investment of eight billion dollars.

MoPNG Additional Secretary S Sundareshan added that by 2015, the entire area of Indian sedimentary basins is likely to be under exploration.

Before the NELP, only 11 per cent of the Indian sedimentary basin area was explored.

UNI BJR PBB DB1204