The ongoing controversy over pricing of gas discovered from blocks offered under the NELP regime has affected the forthcoming offering of oil and gas exploration blocks under the seventh round of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP-VII).
Senior petroleum ministry officials said the decision to postpone the offering of oil and gas exploration blocks under the seventh round of the NELP to November was not because of rig shortage but the ongoing gas pricing row between contractors of the NELP blocks and the government.
?The issue of rig shortage was discussed in the context of the deepwater blocks being offered under NELP-VII. As the directorate-general of hydrocarbons (DGH) andONGC chairman had pointed out that rig availability was expected to improve 2009 onwards, it was decided to go ahead with the deepwater blocks offering under NELP-VII, as the drilling for these would start only around 2010. The actual reason to delay the launch of NELP-VII is the gas pricing issue,? the official said.
When contacted, the director-general, DGH, VK Sibal confirmed having received a letter from the petroleum ministry in this regard. ?The international investors community is closely watching the outcome of the developments over pricing of gas discovered from the Nelp blocks,? Sibal said.