The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources has awarded 46 oil and gas exploration blocks under the Petroleum Policy 2012, the official sources said.
“Besides, it is in the process to award 32 more new blocks to oil and gas exploration companies operating in different parts of the country,” they said.
Under the policy, they said, as many as 46 new blocks had already been awarded, while the clearance process had been initiated for award of 32 more exploration blocks to E&P companies through a transparent bidding process.
Answering a question, they said the ministry had awarded 70 Supplemental Agreements (SAs) for conversion to Petroleum Concessions Agreements (PCAs), aimed at expediting oil and gas exploration activities in potential areas of the country.
“As many as 70 SAs covering 94 leases have been executed, while remaining applications are also being reviewed and finalized on a fast track basis,” they added.
They said the Petroleum Exploration and Production Policy-2012, as amended in July 2013, provided an incentive to existing licence/lease holders for the conversion.
They said the agreements had been finalized in consultation with all stakeholders including from the petroleum sector as well as ministries of Finance and Law and Justice.
Replying to another query, they said the ministry had so far revoked 17 non-performing licences of the companies failing to start exploration and production (E&P) activities as per their commitment. “All such inactive permits will be cancelled,” the warned.
