Indian government auctions 32 small oil and gas fields

22. July 2021

The government will auction unused oil and gas fields previously owned by state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India Ltd. (OIL), Pradhan, the minister in charge, announced last Thursday. These smaller production areas, located in marginal places, were discovered by ONGC and OIL but not developed because their size would not make them profitable for the companies. Announcing the third round of auctions for smaller fields, the minister said state-owned companies could not hold on to production rights indefinitely. The resources belong to the whole nation and at least money could be made from them through the auction, Pradhan added.
The Indian oil and gas industry is growing, providing a larger market for products from the extraction, mining and storage industries. However, most equipment, plants and facilities must undergo mandatory PESO certification. PESO certification, formerly known as CCOE certification, is basically an Indian version of the ATEX or IECEx certification. The certification is based on the Indian standards for PESO.

In the current Discovered Small Fields (DSF-III) auction round, 32 oil and gas producing areas with a total of 75 discoveries were offered. The ministry also stated that this is the last DSF round and only larger discoveries will be auctioned in the upcoming auction. This announcement was made at the same time India’s largest oil and gas producer ONGC announced it would sell a share of its Ratna-R offshore oil fields already in production to private companies and find foreign partners for gas fields in the KG Basin.
In the DSF-III auction, 11 fields onshore, 20 offshore and one deepwater field are being offered for sale. The area of all production fields is about 13,000 km² and includes 75 oil and gas reservoirs with an estimated total volume of 230 million tons of oil or the equivalent amount of gas. According to the Directorate General of Petroleum (DGH), 29 bids have been submitted to develop the fields with an investment of $1.76 billion.
This development potentially increases the market opportunities for relevant product groups like gas and pressure vessels, valves and fittings or safety equipment, which need to be PESO certifiied in order to be used in India. Here you can find an overview of PESO relevant products.

The experts at MPR International GmbH are available to answer your questions about PESO certification or other India certifications without obligation for an initial assessment.
The Indian oil and gas industry is growing and offers good opportunities for your company to provide services and products there or to produce locally. However, most equipment, plants and facilities must undergo mandatory PESO certification. This is issued by the Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation of India. Relevant product groups or components include gas and pressure vessels, valves and fittings, or safety equipment.

If you are interested in understanding what requirements are needed for your product to be imported into India, please do not hesitate to contact us by email or phone at +49-69-271 37 69 261. There is no cost or obligation for us to check for you. If a certification need is discovered we can provide a quotation to make sure that all your certification needs are covered.

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For more information about PESO certification, please refer to our free brochure “PESO Certification Made Easy“.