New Delhi, Jun 10 (FN Bureau) The government on Thursday launched the auction of the yet to be monetised oil and gas fields to increase hydrocarbon production. Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan launched the third round of auction of Discovered Small Fields, and asked the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons and the Petroeum Ministry to devise “innovative” ways for early resource monetisation, including expediting production timelines under he Discovered Small Fields I & II. “We have to work at exponential speed and on a mission-mode to monetise our natural resources for greater public welfare,” he said. Pradhan said the Narendra Modi government has prioritised unleashing the full hydrocarbon potential of India, and it has had the political capital to carry out reform agendas across the sector..
The Modi government has revitalised regulatory regimes to prioritise domestic production of oil and gas. “Reforms in the E&P sector have simplified procedures, ushered in transparency, removed bottlenecks and made India an attractive hub for new investments,” he said, adding that Thursday’s inauguration of thjird bid round is one more concrete step towards unlocking resources As many as 32 oil and gas blocks with 75 discoveries have been offered in the Discovered Small Field (DSF) round-III. These exploratory fields spread over 9 sedimentary basins cover an acreage of about 13,685 sq. kmnand have a potential of approx. 230 MMT. The Discovered Small Field Policy was launched in 2015 and the first round of bidding was held in 2016.