49 small and marginal gas fields awarded

Duganta Oil and Gas and Orissa Stevedores Limited have won 49 small and marginal oil and gas fields that state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had bid out. At the close of bidding in January 2020, ONGC had received bids for 50 out of the 64 small and marginal oil and gas fields that it had bid out so as to raise production by involving private players. ONGC gave the notice of award to seven successful bidders in 13 contract areas comprising 49 marginal oil and gas fields. ONGC clubbed the 64 fields in Gujarat, Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu into 17 onshore contracts. These fields cumulatively have 300 million tonnes (mt) of oil and oil equivalent natural gas reserves. The contractors were selected on a revenue sharing basis. The revenue will be shared on incremental production over and above the baseline production under the business-as-usual scenario. The contract period will be for 15 years with an option to extend it by another five years.