India has again extended the deadline for bids in its latest oil and gas exploration round, giving potential investors an additional six weeks until 18 February, according to the official website.
This is the fourth extension to the 25 oil and gas blocks on offer in the 10th bidding round under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licencing Policy's (HELP) Open Acreage Licencing Programme (OALP).
The bid round, launched during India Energy Week in New Delhi in February, was originally scheduled to close at the end of July and was later extended to 31 October and then again to 31 December.
India has not given a reason for the extension, but industry sources said it may have been because of the holiday season. The previous extensions were because of lower participation from investors over several regulations and stringent tax policies.
This is the largest bid round in terms of acreage offered in a single OALP bid round and is primarily an offshore bid round. Of the total, 16 blocks with an area of 97,919.6 km² fall under "No-Go" areas — areas under the defence ministry. Six of the 25 blocks on offer are on land, six are in shallow water, one in deep water and 12 are in ultra deep-water. These cover an area of 191,986.21 km² across 13 sedimentary basins.
Discussions are also ongoing for a new policy on drilling regulations, a government official told reporters at the 28th Energy Technology Meet in Hyderabad in October.
The new rules expand on India's amended legislation, giving foreign investors greater policy certainty and fiscal stability — something that has deterred most international oil companies to invest in India's exploration capacity.
Brazilian state-controlled Petrobras has signed letters of intent with Indian state-owned producers ONGC and Oil India to collaborate on exploration and production projects. It is also considering opportunities in deepwater and ultra-deepwater crude blocks in India, Petrobras chief executive Magda Chambriard said earlier this year.
Exxon Mobil, Chevron, TotalEnergies and BP have also agreed to partner with ONGC and Oil India in several initial agreements signed over the last two years.
Under the ninth bidding round, 28 upstream oil and gas blocks were offered in January 2024, of which ONGC won 15.
It was the first time BP, private-sector refiner RIL and ONGC partnered and won a shallow-water block in the Saurashtra basin. ONGC has a 40pc stake in the consortium, and RIL and BP hold 30pc each.
ONGC awarded a contract to BP in January to operate and enhance crude and gas production from its Mumbai High fields as part of India's efforts to attract foreign investment in the upstream sector.
Higher taxes
But a recent hike in taxes complicated matters for foreign upstream majors to invest in India because it raises their input cost. New Delhi raised the goods and services tax (GST) on exploration, development and production of oil and gas to 18pc from 12pc, effective 22 September.
The elevated taxes are applicable on goods and support services for drilling and production, as well as costs for transporting crude and refined products by pipeline, making operations more expensive.
The government currently takes 60-70pc of oil producers' revenue in the form of royalties and other taxes, a senior industry official said.
India in December 2024 abolished a windfall tax imposed on domestic crude production in July 2022 because international prices spiked on the back of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Indian upstream firms sell their output based on international prices. Retail sales of oil products and natural gas do not fall under the GST regime, resulting in limited pricing freedom for domestic oil and gas producers.
India aims to increase its acreage under oil and gas exploration to 1mn km² by 2030.
