Discovered Small Field Bid Round-III launched

Discovered Small Field (DSF) bid round-III for international competitive bidding was launched today, at an event chaired by Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel. The virtual event was attended by more than 450 participants including major E&P players, prospective new entrants and service providers.

Delivering his keynote address on the occasion, Shri Pradhan asked DG, Hydrocarbons & the Petroleum Ministry to devise innovative ways for early resource monetisation, including expediting production timelines under DSF I & II. He urged that the work on DSF should be done at exponential speed and on a mission-mode to monetise our natural resources for greater public welfare. He said that inauguration of DSF bid round III is one more concrete step towards unlocking resources.

Shri Pradhan said that Modi government has consistently revitalised regulatory regimes to prioritise domestic production of oil & gas and to unleash the full hydrocarbon potential of India. He said that the government has had the political capital to carry out reform agendas across the oil and gas sector. Shri Pradhan said that reforms in the E&P sector have simplified procedures, ushered in transparency, removed bottlenecks and made India an attractive hub for new investments.

The Secretary, MoPNG, Director General, DGH and Additional Secretary (Exploration) also spoke on the occasion.

DSF bid round-III is offering 32 Contract Areas which comprise of 75 discoveries. These fields are spread over 9 sedimentary basins covering more than 13,000 square kilometers with Inplace Hydrocarbon estimated to be around 230 MMT. Geoscientific data for fields on offer will be showcased through Data Room with interpretation facilities which would assist the potential bidder in making informed decision. An online pre-bid conference will be scheduled on 30th June 2021 to clarify the doubts of bidders. The bidders will be able to submit their bids till 31st August 2021.

Encouraged by the success of DSF bid rounds-I &II, the Government of India has extended the DSF Policy by launching DSF bid round-III. Previous two DSF rounds had a resounding success. In DSF Round – I launched in 2016, 134 bids were submitted for 34 contract areas by 47 companies. 30 Revenue Sharing Contracts were signed. In DSF Round – II launched in 2018, 145 bids were submitted for 24 contract area. 24 Revenue Sharing Contracts were signed.

Government of India had launched Discovered Small Field (DSF) Policy in 2015 which was a monumental step for awarding discovered acreages and monetize the unmonetized discoveries. The DSF policy has multiple attractive features like revenue sharing contract model with low regulatory burden, no minimum biddable work programme, no prior technical qualification required, no upfront signature bonus, etc.