The bidding process for the 69 marginal fields with proven reserves of oil and gas that belong to ONGC and OIL, which until now have been hanging fire, will begin by the first week of December, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan said here.
The fields hold reserves worth ₹70,000 crore, Pradhan estimated, and the bids would follow a revenue-sharing model instead of a profit-sharing one.
Addressing a press conference here, the minister said low global crude oil prices have also reduced the cost of exploration, hence being an incentive for companies to invest in these marginal fields. He added that the fields will turn viable for production once the global crude prices settle at $50-70 a barrel, he added.
As part of the Paris Environmental Protocol coming up this year, Pradhan said the ministry plans to set up green highways between Mumbai-Pune, outside Bengaluru and between Delhi and Mathura, Agra, Chandigarh and Haridwar. These highways would be equipped with CNG stations. He added that in the next four years, the government plans to increase LPG penetration from the current 55 per cent to 75 per cent.
Pradhan and Rajiv Pratap Rudy (Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship) were in the city for a consultative meeting with several MPs to discuss an inter-ministerial initiative which would provide skill development to the five lakh semi-skilled/under-skilled people, daily wage labourers and contract workers employed by the seven large public sector units under the oil and gas ministry.