Gujarat key to success of new oil and gas exploration policy

With as many as 15 oil & gas blocks out of 55 on offer under the Hydrocarbon Exploration & Licensing Policy (HELP) located in Gujarat, the state holds the key to the success of the policy, a senior official said.

The 55 blocks, comprising exploration acreage of close to 60,000 sq km, were put on auction in the first bidding round of Open Acreage Licensing Programme under HELP by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) last month.

This was the first blocks to be put up for auction since 2008. Of these, 11 blocks are in the Cambay basin, two shallow water blocks in Saurashtra, and one on land and another shallow water block in Kutch.

The blocks in Cambay are spread over 7,551 sq km, those in Saurashtra at 3,301 sq km, and the ones in Kutch at 5,650 sq km. Atanu Chakraborty, director general, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), said that Gujarat is the key to enhancing the country's oil & gas production.

"There is already prolific output in Cambay basin. Studies have shown that Saurashtra and Kutch basins are in also highly prospective areas. These have the potential to emerge as the new Bombay High," Chakraborty said, on the sidelines of a workshop organised to apprise potential investors about the HELP framework.

Chakraborty, who was managing director of state-owned Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) before his appointment in the DGH, said that bids for the 55 blocks would close on April 15, and the blocks would be awarded in June.

He said that investment of $3-4 billion is expected in these blocks in the next three to four years.

"Major part of the investment will happen after that," he stressed. In addition to the 15 blocks, DGH is also offering 60 small fields under the Bid Round II of Discovered Small Field Policy. Of the 60, seven fields are in Gujarat, including five onshore ones in Cambay, and one offshore field each in Cambay and Kutch. These seven discoveries have oil and oil equivalent gas of 15.2 million tonne.

"It is important that the small fields are developed, which is why we have simplified the policy. The large players will not come and invest in these fields, but they offer a great opportunity to smaller oil & gas players, or medium-sized companies looking to diversify," Chakraborty said.