Open Acreage Licensing Policy

Subject – Economy

Context – India offers 8 oil, gas blocks for bidding in latest round

Concept –

The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) replacing the erstwhile New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) was approved in March 2016 and the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) along with the National Data Repository (NDR) were launched in June 2017 as the key drivers to accelerate the Exploration and Production (E&P) activities in India.
It provides a single, uniform Licence for exploration and production of conventional as well as unconventional hydrocarbon resources.
Under OALP, companies are allowed to carve out areas they want to explore oil and gas in. Companies can put in an expression of interest for any area throughout the year but such interests are accumulated thrice in a year. The areas sought are then put on auction.
The successful roll-out of the HELP regime, followed by OALP Bid Rounds, has led to an increase in exploration acreages in India.
The OALP has helped in removing red-tapism and brought in a quantum jump in the Exploration & Production sector.
The revenue-sharing model is used for offering fields.
Producers have complete marketing and pricing freedom for crude oil and natural gas produced.
Working – Under the OALP, once an explorer selects areas after evaluating the National Data Repository (NDR) and submits the EoI, it is to be put up for competitive bidding and the entity offering the maximum share of oil and gas to the government is awarded the block.