Government Extends Bidding Deadlines for OALP-X and XI Deep-Sea Blocks to December 10

The Indian government has extended the deadline for submitting bids for deep-sea oil and gas exploration blocks under the 10th and 11th Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) rounds. Prospective investors now have until December 10 to submit offers for deep-water and ultra-deepwater acreage.

This marks the seventh postponement for the OALP-X round and the third for the OALP-XI round. The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), the upstream nodal agency under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, updated its website with the new deadline.

While the DGH did not officially state the reason for the postponement, industry sources indicated the move is tied to the recently announced ₹84,084-crore Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme. Guidelines for this scheme were released on October 22, and the extended deadline provides companies additional time to review the revised policy and financial support framework.

The OALP framework was introduced in 2016 under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy to shift from government-led block identification to an investor-driven system. India currently imports over 88 percent of its crude oil requirements, making domestic resource development a key component of national energy security.

Details on OALP-X and OALP-XI Rounds

The tenth round, OALP-X, was launched in February 2025 and offered 25 blocks covering approximately 1,82,589 square kilometers across 13 sedimentary basins. This included six onshore blocks, six shallow-water blocks, one deepwater block, and 12 ultra-deepwater blocks. Bidding for onshore and shallow-water blocks closed on June 19, 2026, while the deepwater and ultra-deepwater deadlines faced multiple extensions from an original July 2025 close.

OALP-XI was launched in March 2026, offering 21 blocks covering 80,234.49 square kilometers across 11 sedimentary basins. This round comprises 12 onshore blocks, four shallow-water blocks, one deepwater block, and four ultra-deepwater blocks. Its onshore and shallow-water portions also closed on June 19, while the deepwater portion is now aligned with the December 10 deadline.

Samudra Manthan Scheme Framework

Approved by the Cabinet in July, the Samudra Manthan National Offshore Exploration Scheme has an approved outlay of ₹84,084 crore through FY31. It aims to unlock over 600 million tonnes of additional oil-equivalent hydrocarbon resources.

The scheme includes ₹28,534 crore for offshore seismic data acquisition and processing, ₹43,200 crore for accelerated offshore exploration involving the drilling of 60 deepwater exploration wells, ₹10,000 crore for common offshore infrastructure, and ₹2,000 crore for oil and gas manufacturing and services zones.

Under the policy, the government will bear up to 50 percent of eligible deepwater exploration drilling costs, subject to a ceiling of ₹675 crore per well. With a single deepwater exploratory well estimated to cost between $125 million and $150 million according to the Petroleum Ministry, this financial risk-sharing is designed to encourage companies to operate in areas where commercial prospects remain uncertain.

"The repeated extension of the OALP-X and XI bidding deadlines highlights the capital-intensive and technically complex nature of deep-sea offshore exploration. By aligning the timeline with the operational guidelines of the ₹84,084-crore Samudra Manthan scheme, the government is giving investors adequate time to reassess project economics. For firms evaluating high-risk frontier assets, risk-sharing mechanisms such as government-backed drilling cost subsidies are crucial variables in long-term capital allocation decisions." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes