New Delhi, Jun 10 (IANS): Discovered Small Field (DSF) bid round-III for international competitive bidding was launched on Thursday, at an event chaired by Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The virtual event was attended by more than 450 participants including major E&P players, prospective new entrants and service providers.

Delivering the keynote address, Pradhan asked DG, Hydrocarbons and the Petroleum Ministry to devise innovative ways for early resource monetisation, including expediting production timelines under DSF I & II. He urged that the work on DSF should be done at exponential speed and on mission mode to monetise natural resources for greater public welfare.

DSF bid round-III is offering 32 Contract Areas which comprise of 75 discoveries. These fields are spread over nine sedimentary basins covering more than 13,000 square kms with inplace hydrocarbon estimated to be around 230 MMT.

Geoscientific data for fields on offer will be showcased through Data Room with interpretation facilities which would assist the potential bidder in making informed decision.

An online pre-bid conference will be scheduled on June 30 to clarify the doubts of bidders. The bidders will be able to submit their bids till August 31.

Encouraged by the success of DSF bid rounds-I and II, the government has extended the DSF Policy by launching DSF bid round-III. The previous two DSF rounds had a resounding success.

In DSF Round-I launched in 2016, 134 bids were submitted for 34 contract areas by 47 companies. In all, 30 revenue sharing contracts were signed. In DSF Round-II launched in 2018, 145 bids were submitted for 24 contract areas, and 24 revenue sharing contracts were signed.

The government had launched the DSF policy in 2015 for awarding discovered acreages and monetising the unmonetised discoveries. The DSF policy has features like revenue sharing contract model with low regulatory burden, no minimum biddable work programme, no prior technical qualification required, no upfront signature bonus, etc.