Petroleum minister Murli Deora (right) announcing the launch of the sixth round of oil exploration in New Delhi on Thursday. Deputy minister of state Dinsha Patel (left) was also present. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, Feb. 23: Petroleum minister Murli Deora has invited bids for 55 blocks under the sixth round of oil and gas exploration. Most of the blocks are in the eastern offshore deep sea region. Ten coal-bed methane (CBM) blocks have also been put on offer.

The bidding will open on February 28 and close on September 15. The 55 blocks ? 24 in deep sea, six in shallow offshore and 25 onland ? on offer under the sixth round of new exploration licensing policy (Nelp 6) is equal to half the number of blocks awarded in the previous five auctions. The blocks on offer cover 3.55 lakh square km.

While two of the blocks are situated in the deep sea off the Bengal coast, 18 are located in the Krishna-Godavari and Mahanadi basins off the Andhra and Tamil Nadu coasts. One block is in the sea around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Five of the onland blocks are situated in Assam and two in Mizoram.

Of the 10 coal-bed methane blocks, one each is located in Bengal and Jharkhand.

“After five rounds, the area under exploration has increased over three times and reserve accretion is already around 600 million tonnes. We have also received an investment commitment of $5 billion,” Deora said.

He said the Nelp rounds have seen major discoveries by Reliance, ONGC and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation off the east coast.