NELP VII bid submission date extended to June 30

New Delhi, May 6 (UNI) The government today extended the last date of bid submission, for the third time, for the seventh round of the New Exploration Licencing Policy (NELP VII) till June 30.

''In view of persistent demand, the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has decided to extend the bid submission date for NELP VII from May 16, 2008 to June 30, 2008 so as to give more time to prospective bidders to finalise their bidding strategy,'' an official statement said here.

The Petroleum Ministry had launched NELP VII on December 13 last year followed by road shows at Mumbai, London, Houston, Calgary, Singapore and Perth.

The 57 blocks on offer include 29 onland, 19 deepwater and nine shallow water blocks.

India is wooing private capital for exploration, and encouraging local firms to buy stakes in foreign oil and gas projects to meet the surging energy needs of the country.

Previous NELP rounds have been dominated by local firms, with state-run explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Reliance Industries bagging a large number of blocks.

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