GAIL, Oil India to bid jointly in seventh round

New Delhi: GAIL (India) Ltd and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for joint cooperation in various business areas of the hydrocarbons value chain. As part of the agreement, the two companies will jointly participate in the potential blocks, mainly onshore and offshore blocks in the forthcoming New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP VII) bidding round.

In a statement issued here on Thursday, GAIL said “Various areas of mutual interests identified in the MoU include exploration and production, natural gas marketing and transmission, city gas distribution, coal bed methane, petrochemicals, and technology and knowledge sharing.”

Both the companies will explore opportunities for cooperation in greater details so that respective resources could be pooled on the basis of mutuality and reciprocity, the statement said. The two state-owned companies will also examine the possibility of joint bidding for overseas exploration blocks and also securing farm-in options in already awarded exploration blocks in India and abroad.

Considering the likely gas discovery by OIL in its exploration blocks and GAIL’s existing/planned gas transmission networks as well as its experience in gas marketing, the two companies will explore cooperation in transportation and marketing of gas, the statement said.

Further, GAIL and OIL may consider examining joint participation in gas pipeline projects abroad including transnational gas pipeline projects.

City gas projects

The two companies will also examine joint implementation of city gas distribution projects in major cities of Assam and in other States through joint venture route along with interested third parties. GAIL and OIL will also discuss cooperation in CBM opportunities and petrochemicals sector in India and abroad, the statement added.

GAIL and OIL are already partners in the Brahamaputra Cracker and Polymer Ltd (BCPL) at Dibrugarh in Assam, where GAIL holds 70 per cent equity and OIL 10 per cent.