(ET)
The private players stayed away from the latest oilfield auction while the government received a total of eight bids, from ONGC and Oil India, for seven blocks on offer. ONGC has submitted bids for seven blocks and Oil India for one in the fourth round of the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP), where bidding closed on Thursday, according to a statement on the website of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the Oil Ministry arm that oversees oilfield auctions. No other company participated in the auction. This means ONGC will automatically get six blocks for lack of competition. For one block, it will have to compete with Oil India.
The fourth round offered the lowest number of blocks and also received the least bids, among all the auction rounds of OALP. In the second round, 14 blocks attracted 33 bids while in the third round, 23 blocks received 42 bids. In the first, 110 bids were received for 55 blocks on offer.
