Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL), which has announced its decision to pursue exploration, is considering bidding for the offshore marginal oil and gas fields offered by ONGC in India. The extent of participation would depend on the nature of the blocks offered.The company wants to get into the entire value chain of petroleum products. It already has a strong presence in the marketing and refining. HPCL, through its subsidiary Prize Petroleum, has bagged marginal fields for exploration purpose by ONGC.BPCL wants to get into exploration to ensure supply security of crude which has become a volatile commodity of late. Last year, the company announced its decision to get into the exploration and production (E&P) business. For this, it plans to invest Rs 1,000-1,500 crore over the next five years.The company had said it has become necessary for it to explore other avenues for securing crude by entering the upstream sector. BPCL is pursuing all E&P opportunities, whether it is the exploration blocks offered by the government under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) or farm-in opportunities.Last year, BPCL achieved success in bidding for oil and gas blocks offered under the fourth round of NELP. BPCL has been awarded three blocks. Two of these are in deep sea water, in the Krishna-Godavari and Mahanadi basin. These blocks are in consortium with ONGC and Oil India Ltd. BPCL has also bagged a third block on-land in the Cauvery basin along with ONGC.
