The centre approved all the 18 pending production-sharing contracts on May 15 (three days after the country conducted five nuclear tests at Pokharan). The one-shot approval was considered an attempt by the government to skirt the sanctions announced soon after the blasts by theUnited States, Japan and Germany.

Companies that have been awarded the exploration blocks include five US oil multinationals, Cairne Energy of Australia, Tullow Oil Plc of Ireland and nine oil exploration companies registered in India. The US companies that plan to explore for oil in the country include Okland Oil Company, Samson International, Opesis Inc, Medallion Oil Company and Joshi Technologies Inc.

Oil giants in the high-risk business of exploration usually do not rely too much on bank finance and hence are likely to be insulated from the sanctions. The gesture by the centre was, at any rate, a signal to the international community that in India it was business as usual. The contracts for the remaining 12 exploration blocks are likely to be signed within the coming few weeks.