Fourth licensing round unveiled

THE COUNTRY unveiled its fourth licensing round under its four-year-old New Exploration Licensing Policy (Nelp) last month. Nelp-IV is offering 24 oil and gas blocks - 11 onshore, 12 in deep water and one in shallow water - to domestic and foreign companies. Eight of the deep-water blocks are on the east coast and four on the west. Of the onshore blocks, three are in Gujarat, two in Tamil Nadu and one each on Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Nagaland, Rajasthan and Tripura. The shallow-water block is on the east coast. Of note in this round is the inclusion of two deep-water blocks near the strategically sensitive Andaman Islands, off the eastern coast, overlooking the Malacca Straits. Previous attemp