NELP VIII unlikely to attract much foreign interest: RIL

Reliance Industries (RIL), the company that has made the most oil and gas discoveries in areas auctioned since 1999, today said the next auction, scheduled in the coming few weeks, is unlikely to attract much interest from global players. The 8th bid round under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) is being held under the shadow of a global credit crunch and low oil prices as well as crisis of confidence in the policy regime offered by India. "Previous NELP rounds saw people bidding like crazy. They treated exploration acreage like real estate," RIL President (International Business) Atul Chandra said at a conference organised by Infraline. The previous seven rounds were dominated by state-owned explorers Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India. These firms made enormous investment and exploration commitments to win the blocks. "Today they are finding it difficult to meet the commitments made," he said pointing out that low oil prices are not commensurate with the steep rise in oilfield service rates. "The next NELP round is not going to be very attractive because of low prices," he said.