NEW DELHI: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation on Thursday won five out of the 23 discovered oil and gas fields that were auctioned in the second round of discovered small field (DSF). The state-owned explorer has signed a contract for the prolific Chinnewala Tibba gas field, which it had discovered around 15 years ago, but was taken away and auctioned by the government. This gas field in Rajasthan was also the most-contested field in DSF-II with as many as 17 bids being put in.
The 23 fields, made up of some 57 discoveries by ONGC and OIL India Limited (OIL), hold 190 million tonnes of oil and oil-equivalent gas resources, said an official of the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons at the contract-signing ceremony on Thursday.
On the occasion, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said DSF bid rounds are aimed at raising domestic production to cut dependence on imported oil. “Maximising production is our top priority now,” he said.
While ONGC and OIL could not monetise the discoveries auctioned in the DSF round mainly because they being financially unviable on prevalent fiscal terms, DSF round winners will get complete pricing and marketing freedom that will make the finds economically viable. Pradhan said ONGC was asked to largely stay away from DSF-I round last year, but was given freedom to bid in DSF-II and he was happy that the company walked away with the most number of fields.