MoPNG announces OALP Bid Round-IX under HELP

October 2022

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has announced an auction for the exploration and development of 26 blocks under the offshore Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-IX), itself part of the Hydro­carbon Exploration and Licensing Policy. According to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, this round will include 23 blocks, covering almost 220,000 square km. A total of 15 blocks lie in ultra-deepwater, while e­ig­ht blocks are shallow-water acreages. MoPNG has also launch­ed an auction for the exploration and development of 16 coal bed me­thane (CBM) blocks under Special CBM Bid Round-2022 in seven states: Jhar­khand, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana, Madh­ya Pra­desh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. The blocks have a cumulative land area of 5,817 square km.