India to woo overseas firms to hunt for oil

GUWAHATI: India will host a series of road shows in major world cities next month aimed at wooing overseas exploration firms to hunt for oil in the country, a petroleum ministry official said.

The proposed road show would begin in New Delhi on March 10 and would travel to Britain, the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Doha and Dubai in West Asia. The four-month long road show is part of an effort to attract oil explorations companies to bid for new potential oil and natural gas blocks in India under the sixth round of the New Exploration Licensing Policy.

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The official said, “The idea of the road show is to sensitize and orient global bidders about details of the locations for exploration and make them realize how lucrative the offer could be.” The 55 blocks on offer - 25 onshore, 24 deepwater, and six shallow water blocks - account for half the total number awarded in the previous five international competitive biddings.

The onshore blocks being offered are located throughout India and the offshore blocks are located off the country's western and eastern coasts and the Andaman and Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean. The global bidding is also open for 10 coal-bed methane blocks in the country.