The submission deadline for the OALP-X licensing round, recognized as the largest acreage offering, has now been pushed to February 18, 2026, according to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) on its official website.
Although no specific reason was given for this extension, industry insiders suggest it may relate to the holiday season that occurs at the year’s end in many regions.
Originally launched in February during India Energy Week (IEW) 2025 in New Delhi, the 10th round of Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP-X) was set to conclude at the end of July. However, in late July, the deadline was first moved to October 31, then to December 31, 2025.
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In addition, the deadlines for the fourth round of Discovered Small Field (DSF) bidding and the special coal-bed methane (CBM) round have also been extended to February 18, 2026.
The OALP-X round offers 25 blocks covering approximately 191,986 square kilometers, including six onshore blocks, six shallow-water tracts, one deepwater block, and 12 in ultra-deepwater across 13 sedimentary basins.
This round features four blocks with a total area of 47,058 sq km in the Andaman basin, which Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has claimed could possess even greater oil and gas reserves than the exploration hotspot of Guyana.
It presents the largest area offered so far for the exploration and production of crude oil, which is refined into fuels such as petrol and diesel, along with natural gas, utilized for power generation, urea production, converted into CNG for vehicles, and used in household cooking.
In total, 3.78 lakh sq km have been offered in the previous nine rounds.
The last bid round, OALP-IX, was the largest prior to the current one and included 28 blocks or areas over 1.36 lakh sq km for the exploration and production of oil and gas.
OALP bid rounds were introduced following an open acreage policy established in 2016, which shifted from the previous government-directed block identification and bidding process to one allowing explorers the freedom to select any area not already controlled by other companies for oil and gas prospecting.
Key features of this Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) include reduced and concessional royalty rates for early commercial production, elimination of oil CESS, exploration rights over all retained areas throughout the entire contract duration, and freedom in marketing and pricing.
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The OALP-IX round in September last year was noted for attracting four bidders, including state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India Ltd (OIL), and private-sector Vedanta Ltd, where most blocks received only two bids, as per DGH reports. Notably, this round saw Reliance Industries Ltd-BP Plc bid alongside ONGC for one block offshore Gujarat.
ONGC secured 11 blocks independently and partnered with OIL for another three. They also won the shallow water block in the Gujarat-Saurashtra basin that was bid on with Reliance-BP.
Mining tycoon Anil Agarwal’s Vedanta secured seven out of the 28 blocks offered, while OIL took home the remaining six.
Prior to OALP-IX, Reliance and its supermajor partner BP had participated in just two of the preceding eight bid rounds since 2017, winning both.
Blocks are granted to companies proposing the highest revenue share from oil and gas extracted and based on their committed work programs.
The government aims to stimulate India’s oil and gas production by opening more acreage for exploration, which would help reduce the substantial USD 220 billion oil import expenditure.
In 2016, the open acreage policy was introduced, shifting from the prior method in which the government identified and auctioned off blocks, allowing explorers the option to choose areas not already claimed by others for oil and gas exploration.
The identified areas are grouped and presented for bidding biannually, with a 5-point advantage given to the company identifying the area.
Vedanta Ltd secured 41 blocks out of 55 offered in the inaugural round and acquired another 10 areas in subsequent rounds.
Other rounds have largely been dominated by state-owned enterprises.
