New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday that he held “a productive discussion” with Scott Sandlin, India Country Chair of upstream global oil giant ExxonMobil, on the opportunities in oil and gas exploration in India through the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Round 10 and the Eastern Offshore.

“Around 1 million sq. km. of ‘No Go’ areas opened by India, now offer an investor-friendly upstream framework to our international partners after the new Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Amendment Act, 2025, new PNG rules and empowered Committee of Secretaries (ECS) reforms have been introduced,” the minister said in a post on X.

The minister also met Manny Maceda, Chairman of Bain & Company, a global leader in management consulting and business transformation.

“With expertise across technology, energy and strategy, Bain’s global experience can collaborate meaningfully with Indian energy entities in India’s efforts towards strengthening and expanding the energy sector,” he said in a post on X.

In continuation of accelerated exploration and production activities in the oil and gas sector, the government announced the OALP Bid Round 10. This is the largest bid round so far in terms of acreage offered in a single OALP bid round under the HELP regime. In this bid round, 25 blocks, with an area of approximately 1,82,589.21 square km, are on offer to investors to carry out oil and gas exploration.

This bid round is primarily an offshore bid round with 19 offshore blocks covering an area of 1,65,718 square km. Of these, 13 blocks covering an area of 1,24,327 sq.km fall in deep water and ultradeep water. The blocks are spread over 13 sedimentary basins, of which 6 blocks are onland.

Each offered Block is technically analysed by international experts for hydrocarbon potential and is freely available for Investors.

Bidding for onland and shallow water blocks closed on June 19, while bids for deep and ultra-deep water blocks can be submitted up to September 17.

–IANS

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