Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has invited bids from private companies for handing over operations of 43 small and marginal oil and gas fields to raise production. The 43 online fields have been clustered into 11 contract areas that will be bid out to companies offering the highest oil and gas output on top of a pre-decided baseline. The company had in June 2019 invited similar bids for 64 fields that were clustered into 17 contract areas. The bid round did not evoke much interest and failed.
ONGC is India’s largest government-run corporation and produces about 70% of India’s crude oil and natural gas. The corporation is the biggest public sector commercial organization in India.