NEW DELHI, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- The Indian government said its wants only experienced oil companies to pump money into the country's deepwater oil blocks.
"This could turn out to be a party pooper for aspirants of deepwater exploration blocks. The most attractive basins in India's deepwater blocks will be out of bounds for many newcomers, as the government wants only experienced oil companies to invest money in these blocks," an unidentified Petroleum Ministry official said.
This would mean that most new oil companies, like the Gas Authority of India Ltd., Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd., the ADAG group and some smaller foreign oil companies cannot bid for the lucrative blocks, The Economic Times newspaper reported Wednesday.
Oil industry insiders said companies with no deepwater exploration experience will need to either partner experienced companies or limit their bids.
"The amendment in this regard had been notified in June itself as there was a typo. We want only serious players in these blocks as they are very capital intensive. A well in the deepwater basins would cost anything between $80 million to $100 million," said V.K. Sibal, director general of hydrocarbons.
Sibal said the deepwater acreage includes blocks in the highly prospective Krishna-Godavari basins off the east cost, where most recent offshore finds have been made. The largest response was for these deepwater blocks, as they are increasingly being recognized as new oil and gas bearing regions in India.
The new exploration licensing policy VI bidding round has offered 24 deepwater blocks.
