The Hindu Business Line : NELP-VII bid date pushed to April 25

New Delhi, March 10 The Government has pushed back the bid date for 57 oil and gas blocks on offer under the latest round of New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) by two weeks to April 25 from April 11.

The last date for bidding has been changed to April 25, Mr S. Sundareshan, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said at a NELP-VII interactive meet organised by CII here.

“The bid dates for NELP-VII have been postponed because of change in schedule for promotional roadshows,” Mr Anil Jain, Joint Secretary (Exploration) in Petroleum Ministry, said. The road show in Singapore will now be held on March 28, and the one in Perth on March 31. The entire process of bid evaluation, award and signing of production sharing contract is expected to be completed by July-August.

Concerns

During the session, concerns were raised by the exploration companies on the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram’s, Budget proposal to end tax holiday for the sector. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has taken up the issue with the Finance Ministry and expects the issue to be resolved at the earliest.

The exploration and production companies hoped that clarity will be in-place before April 25. The companies said that the proposal would impact investor sentiments as seven-year tax holiday has been the salient feature of NELP. Niko Resources, Vice-President, Mr Larry Fisher, said the move would change the way companies construct their bid.

“We need a stable fiscal regime. Too much tinkering is not good for investor sentiments, particularly when we are looking at increasing self-sufficiency in oil and gas,” Mr V. Raghuraman, Principal Advisor and Chief Coordinator, Energy, Environment and Natural Resources, CII said.

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