Govt to bring in more E&P reforms to draw private sector back to OALP

• The last two rounds under OALP have received a tepid response from private players

• I am very hopeful that in the next rounds we will have better participation. There's lot of appetite in the market, but then due to COVID, the response was less, said Kapoor

New Delhi: Indicating the government's keenness to draw private players back to the bid rounds under Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), Petroleum Secretary Tarun Kapoor has said that the government is going to come up with more reforms in the exploration and production (E&P) sector. The statement comes just a week after Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd (OIL) secured all the blocks on offer under bid round V of OALP. 

Speaking to the media at the 4th India Energy Forum CERAWeek, Kapoor said, "We are going to come up with some more reforms which the market also knows about. And therefore, we expect participation from both domestic and global players to improve (in the subsequent bid rounds under OALP)."

"I am very hopeful that in the next rounds we will have better participation. There's lot of appetite in the market, but then due to COVID, the response was less," he added.

Private sector has stayed away from OALP

The last two rounds under OALP have received a tepid response from private players, who have chosen to stay away from the bidding process. While no private player turned up for bidding in Round IV of OALP, Round V received only one bid from Invenire Petrodyne Ltd. For both the rounds, all the blocks on offer went to public sector companies.

ALSO READ: OALP Round 5: Private sector keeps away, ONGC wins 11 blocks, OIL 4

'We want BPCL disinvestment to happen as soon as possible'

On being asked whether Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) disinvestment will be concluded this year or not, Kapoor said, "We want the disinvestment to happen as soon as possible. It is not handled by our ministry and is being done through an independent and transparent bidding process." The statement comes days after the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey said that there will be no further extensions in the deadline for bid submission for BPCL sale. 

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