Open Acreage Licensing Policy

Facts for Prelims

Open Acreage Licensing Policy

News: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas Launches Open Acreage Licensing Programme Bid Round-VIII.

About:
• Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) along with the National Data Repository (NDR) was launched in June 2017 as the key driver to accelerate the Exploration and Production (E&P) activities in India.
• Under OALP, companies are given the freedom to carve out areas they want to explore oil and gas. 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.

What does HELP stand for?
• HELP which replaced the erstwhile New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) in 2016. Here,
• Exploration blocks shall be awarded on a continuous basis through e-bidding in a transparent manner.
• It followed the Revenue sharing model instead of Profit-sharing for hydrocarbon exploration.
• Unified license for all types of hydrocarbons.
• Freedom to carve out acreages of choice under OALP bid rounds.
• Full marketing and pricing freedom of gas.