The government received 13 bids, including three from the private sector, for 10 oil and gas blocks on offer in the latest exploration licensing round where companies had a year to submit their bids, according to a notification by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), which oversaw the process and extended bid submission deadline several times.
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) placed bids for nine blocks while Oil India, Vedanta, Sun Petrochemicals, and the joint venture of Reliance Industries and BP placed bids for one block each.
ONGC would win six blocks without a contest but compete with Vedanta, Sun Petrochemicals, and Oil India in one block each. Reliance-BP joint venture also faces no competition for the block it has bid for in the KG Basin.