Dharmendra Pradhan launches DSF round 3; 74 discoveries on offer

• DSF bid round 3 is offering 32 Contract Areas which comprise of 75 discoveries

• An online pre-bid conference will be scheduled on June 30 to clarify the doubts of bidders; the bidders will be able to submit their bids till August 31

New Delhi: Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has launched the bid round 3 under Discovered Small Fields (DSF) regime for international competitive bidding on Thursday. The virtual event was attended by more than 450 participants, including major E&P players, prospective new entrants and service providers. Delivering his keynote address on the occasion, Pradhan asked the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) and the Petroleum Ministry to devise innovative ways for early resource monetisation, including expediting production timelines under DSF round 1 and 2. 

He urged that the work on DSF should be done at exponential speed and on a mission-mode to monetise our natural resources for greater public welfare. He said that the inauguration of DSF bid round III is one more concrete step towards unlocking resources.

Soon, support packages to hand-hold small, medium E&P operators

SCL Das, Director-General of DGH, said that the bid round 3 of DSF is being launched in the midst of an increased emphasis by the government on broad-basing the exploration and production sector and investors will see a number of support packages in the time to come to enable small and medium operators. "While our prime focus is on maximising crude oil production, the government is attaching equal priority to broad-basing this industry, which is a very important government objective. And this is the reason you will continue to see a whole set of support packages through public investment, which will be extended to small and medium operators to hand-hold them in building their capacities This will be a very prominent feature of bid round 3," said Das.

DSF round 3 offers 32 contract areas comprising 74 discoveries

DSF bid round 3 is offering 32 Contract Areas which comprise of 75 discoveries. These fields are spread over nine sedimentary basins covering more than 13,000 square kilometres with in-place hydrocarbon estimated to be around 230 MMT. Geoscientific data for fields on offer will be showcased through Data Room with interpretation facilities which would assist the potential bidder in making informed decision. An online pre-bid conference will be scheduled on June 30 to clarify the doubts of bidders. The bidders will be able to submit their bids till August 31.

ALSO READ

1. FY21: India's crude oil production has declined by 20% in a decade, shows official data

2. Govt wants ONGC to be 'enabler' of growth, seek private partnership to raise crude oil output

The backdrop

In DSF round 1 launched in 2016, 134 bids were submitted for 34 contract areas by 47 companies and 30 Revenue Sharing Contracts were signed. In DSF round 2 launched in 2018, 145 bids were submitted for 24 contract areas and 24 Revenue Sharing Contracts were signed.

The Centre had launched Discovered Small Field (DSF) Policy in 2015 for awarding discovered acreages and monetise the unmonetised discoveries. The DSF policy has multiple attractive features like revenue sharing contract model with low regulatory burden, no minimum biddable work programme, no prior technical qualification required, no upfront signature bonus, etc.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)