PC Oman Ventures will buy 10% stake in Block 61 of the Al Khazzan gas field. Credit: Zbynek Burival on Unsplash.

Diversified natural resources company Vedanta has secured exploration licences for 41 of the oil and gas blocks out of 55 on offer, in the first round of auctions under India’s Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-I).

The results of the auctions were announced by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).

State-owned firms Oil India (OIL) and Oil and Natural Gas (ONGC) respectively have nine and two blocks, while Gail (India), Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) and Bharat PetroResources each secured one block.

Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal was quoted by media sources as saying: “We are an energy-deficient country and policies like OALP will help reduce the country’s import dependence for oil from around 80% now to 67% by 2022, in line with the vision of the prime minister.

“The development further strengthens our vision to invest in India and contribute 50% of India’s domestic crude oil production.”

“The development further strengthens our vision to invest in India and contribute 50% of India’s domestic crude oil production.”

ONGC submitted bids for 37 blocks either on its own or as part of a consortium with other state-owned companies, while OIL bid for 22 blocks.

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The 55 blocks cover an aggregate area of almost 60,000km². Approximately 102,000km² is currently under exploration, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported citing unnamed officials.

The country’s new Hydrocarbon Exploration Licensing Policy (HELP) allows companies to choose their own blocks.

According to the policy, companies can explore and produce all forms of hydrocarbon under a single licence.

Through this policy, the government seeks to increase domestic oil and gas production, enhance transparency and reduce administrative discretion.

Operators are entitled to freely market crude oil and natural gas produced from the blocks.

India aims to reduce its reliance on crude and natural gas imports and is targeting to reduce oil imports to 67% by 2022 and to 50% by 2030.