Big guns primed for $8bn Indian oil hunt

Feb 1, 2008

Big guns primed for $8bn Indian oil hunt
By Indrajit Basu

KOLKATA - For the mandarins of India's Ministry of Petroleum it was supposed to be an event just like any of the six before. Yet as the team of a dozen-odd powerful officials, led by the oil minister himself, arrived at a swanky hotel in London on the morning of January 24, they knew it would be like never before.

A crowd of 200 representatives from 97 global oil companies were attending the road show that initiated the seventh round of bidding for exploration licenses for India's grossly under-explored oil and gas reserves under the New Exploration Licensing Policy regime. At stake are investments that might be worth as much as US$8 billion.

"The response was huge," said a ministry official. The big guns of the oil world, such as Exxon-Mobile, BP, BG Group and Chevron, were all in attendance, he said. So also were Hardy Oil and many smaller players from European countries like Hungary and Poland. "We were expecting a high level of interest from the foreign companies but we didn't expect it would be this high," he said.

The interest wasn't unwarranted, because this version of the New Exploration and Licensing Policy (called the NELP VII) too was unlike its predecessors. For the first time since 1997, when India decided to invite private participation in the country's oil and gas exploration and production - through the New Exploration Licensing Policy regime - India has crafted a NELP with the specific intention of attracting foreign and multiple interests in the country's oil exploration, particularly in deepwater exploration...>

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JB01Df04.html

Venezuela and Russia, among other producers, are much more protective of their natural resources.

African producers (especially at the Nigeria Delta -- the area they fought a war over -- Biafra) are also seen as unreliable.

Makes sense that the NELP policy has drawn increased attention.