Lok Sabha Question No. 1161 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-11
Subject: Exploration of Blocks under NELP
Ministry: PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
Asked by: ELUMALAI VELLAIGOUNDER, K. MARAGATHAM, G. HARI

## Exploration of Blocks under NELP

1161.  SHRI V. ELUMALAI: SHRIMATI K. MARAGATHAM: SHRI G. HARI:

Will the Minister of PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government has signed Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for 26 discovered  blocks,  28  exploration  blocks  under  pre  New  Exploration  Licensing  Policy (Pre-NELP) and 254 blocks under NELP and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether  the  Government  has  now  moved  to  the  revenue  sharing  mechanism under the Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy regime and if so, the details thereof along with the extent and manner in which the new policy announced by the Government will help to improve the ease of doing business and to increase the revenue of States;

(c) whether the first round of auction of hydrocarbon fields under the new regime saw explorers showing interest and bidding for 55 fields and if so, the details thereof along with the details of such fields which are yet to be awarded;

(d) whether the Government has streamlined the existing PSCs with four key changes in  the  policy  framework  to  increase  domestic  hydrocarbon  production  and  if  so,  the details thereof; and

(e) whether  the  exploration  period  has  also  been  increased  by  two  years  and  the appraisal period by one year for North Eastern hydrocarbon fields and if so, the details thereof

## ANSWER

## पेट्रोलियम एवं प्राक ृ लिक गैस मंत्री ( धमेन्द्र प्रधान ) MINISTER OF PETROLEUM& NATURAL GAS

## (SHRI DHARMENDRA PRADHAN)

(a) Government of India has signed 310 Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) under Pre New Exploration Licensing Policy (Pre-NELP) and New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) so far. Details of 310 PSCs are as under:

| BIDDING ROUND   |   TOTAL BLOCKS |   ACTIVE BLOCKS |
|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|
| Field           |             28 |              25 |
| Pre-NELP        |             28 |              10 |
| NELP I          |             24 |               3 |
| NELP II         |             23 |               3 |
| NELP III        |             23 |               4 |
| NELP IV         |             20 |               4 |
| NELP IX         |             19 |              15 |
| NELP V          |             20 |               5 |
| NELP VI         |             52 |              10 |
| NELP VII        |             41 |              12 |
| NELP VIII       |             32 |              10 |
| Grand Total     |            310 |             101 |

(b) & (c): Government  notified  the  Hydrocarbon  Exploration  and  Licensing  Policy (HELP) in March, 2016 to replace the NELP. The new exploration policy provides   for single        license      for        exploration      and  exploitation  of  conventional  as  well  as  unconventional  hydrocarbon  resources,  flexibility  to  carve  out  exploration  acreages,  a Revenue Sharing model and marketing and pricing freedom for the Crude oil & Natural gas produced. Under HELP Policy, 55 Blocks having an acreage area of 59,282 Sq. Km. have been awarded in October 2018 under Bid Round-I. Under Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round-II, bidding for 14 blocks having an acreage area of 29,233 Sq. Km. has been launched on 7 th January, 2019.  The details of blocks offered under OALP Bid Round-II are as follows:

| Onland Blocks (Area 13733 Sq KM)                       | Shallow Water Blocks (Area 13986 Sq KM)           | Ultra Deepwater Block (Area 1514 Sq KM)   |
|--------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|
|  Rajasthan -01  Mahanadi-04  Cambay-02  Cauvery-01 |  Kutch -02  Andaman & Nicobar -02  Mahanadi-01 |  Krishna Godaari-01                      |

(d) & (e): Government has notified the policy framework for streamlining the working of Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs) for increasing domestic production of hydrocarbon resources on 14 th August, 2018. The policy framework includes (i) Sharing of Royalty and Cess in proportion to Participating Interest of the Contractors in Pre-NELP Exploration Blocks and to be cost recoverable; (ii) Additional two years for Exploration activities  and  additional  one  year for appraisal activities  for operational blocks in North Eastern  Region  (NER)  besides  marketing  including  pricing  freedom  for  natural  gas produced in  NER;    (iii)  Allowing  extension  of  notice  period  from  7  days  to  15  days  in events of force majeure in operational blocks of Pre-NELP and NELP contracts, and (iv) Extending  Tax  benefits  under  section  42  of  Income  Tax  Act,  1961  to  Pre-NELP discovered fields during extended period under the Policy for Pre-NELP PSC Extension dated 28.03.2016.

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