Government signs OALP-1 for 55 gas and exploitation areas

The government will be signing Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) round-1 contracts for 55 oil and gas exploitation areas. Initially, the signing of contracts was scheduled for September 6 but was later postponed pending Vedanta getting shareholdersÂ’ nod to sign the Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) with the government. Last month, when the bid evaluation was concluded, Vedanta had walked away with 41 oil and gas exploitation blocks out of the 55 offered. Oil India won nine blocks, while Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) bagged two. Bharat Petroleum Corporation and Hindustan Oil Exploration Corporation (HOEC) bagged one block each.