Mumbai, 6 June, 2016: Hon’ble Minister of State(Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Government of India Shri. Dharmendra Pradhan accompanied by others senior officials from MoPNG organized an interactive meet in the financial capital of India – Mumbai on 6u’ June. 2016 to showcase and invite the prospective investors for the upcoming Discovered Small Field Bid Round 2016. This event had valuable content being presented covering highlights of the new policy, regulations, grants and implications thereof. The Model revenue sharing contract was also launched by the minister as part of the event.
The grand event was held at Hotel Taj Lands’ End. Mumbai. As part of the Discovered Small Field Bid Round 2016. 46 Contract Areas are being offered consisting of 67 different small fields across 9 sedimentary basins to investors from over the world for extraction and exploration of oil and gas. Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). the technical arm of the Ministry is inviting bids for developing and monetizing these contract areas having 650 Million Barrels of Oil and Oil Equivalent Gas (0+0EG) in-place volumes spread over 1500 square kilometres in Ontario’. Shallow water and Deepwater areas. The Bidding process shall start on 1r July 2016 and will end on 31m October 2016.
The Bid Round aims to boost the oil and gas production in the country owing to the growing energy demand and is in line with the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi’s mission of reducing India’s energy import dependence by 2022. This is being done through an investor friendly policy which allows for ease in administering single license for extraction of all types of Hydrocarbons and a Revenue Sharing Contract Model.
Some of the key features of the policy include no upfront signature bonus, freedom in pricing, no oil cess. custom duty exemption and graded royalty rates. Investors will access information dockets through the e-bidding gateway. Also. Physical Data Centers with Interpretation Facility would be set up in the DGH office and other international locations where prospective bidders can access the data.
The Minister re-iterated the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and said that -Systems need to be made sharp. effective, fast and flexible-. In line of this. MoPNG has introduced a new policy framework called Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP), for the E&P sector in India which will provide the much needed operational flexibility to market players to do better and deliver better.
Post the completion of the event, the Minister of State and his delegation of senior dignitaries interacted with some of India’s prominent business leaders, start-up firms looking for venturing in the Oil and Gas sector among others to scout for new business associations for the project and invited them to come and invest in the fields.
Fueled by the initiatives of the Honorable Prime Minister. such as Make in India. Ease of Doing Business and Start Up India. the Ministry wants to leverage the entrepreneurial culture to expand the hydrocarbon base in the country.
Other speakers at the event included Secretary. MoPNG. Shri. K.D. Tripathi and Additional Secretary, MoPNG. Shri. A.P Sawhney. Director General. DGH Shri Atanu Chakraborty delivered a presentation on the highlights of the Bid Round, including the timelines for bidding and details of the e-bidding portal. ONGC representative made a presentation to highlight the Infrastructure & facilities available near the offered fields.
The Minister also announced that more such National and International roadshows will be held in the forthcoming months. The Ministry looks lanyard to an enthusiastic response from the bidders to be associated with the India’s 125 year old Hydrocarbon Industry.
