ONGC wins 7 oil blocks, OIL 4 in latest bid round

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has won seven out of the 11 oil and gas exploration blocks and Oil India Limited (OIL) has won the remaining four blocks offered for bidding in the latest licensing round. The government had offered 11 blocks for exploration and production of oil and gas in the fifth bid round under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OLAP). A total of 12 bids – seven by ONGC and four by OIL – were received for the 11 blocks on offer at the close of bidding on June 30, 2020. Invenire Petrodyne Limited was the only private bidder for one block. While ONGC was the sole bidder for six blocks, OIL was the lone bidder in all the four blocks it bid for. The previous bid round, OALP-IV, too had seen just eight bids coming in for the seven blocks on offer.