The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has extended the deadline for submission of bids under the tenth round of the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP-X) for the second time, giving investors more time to participate in India’s ongoing oil and gas exploration efforts.

The new deadline has been moved to November 14, from the earlier October 30, according to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH). The extension aims to encourage broader participation from both domestic and international energy players.

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The OALP-X round, launched in July 2024, offers eight blocks for exploration and production across various sedimentary basins. These include opportunities in frontier regions as well as established hydrocarbon provinces, reflecting the government’s strategy to expand India’s energy resource base through transparent, competitive bidding.

The OALP framework, introduced in 2017 under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), allows companies to select blocks based on their assessment of geological data. Through successive bid rounds, India has awarded more than 134 exploration blocks, covering over 2 lakh sq km, to both private and public sector players.

Officials noted that extending the timeline for OALP-X is consistent with the government’s push to attract new investment into upstream exploration, helping to reduce import dependency and strengthen domestic production capacity.

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