Production Sharing Contract inked in between BHP Billiton and BG Group

A production- Sharing Contract (PSC) was signed by Australian BHP Billiton and UK’s BG Group on 10 September 2010. The duo won the bid on the deep waters of Mumbai Basin with the government in the ninth round of the bidding that was conducted under the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP).

Two different statements issued by the company and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas confirmed the inking of the contract in between BG-BHP and the government MB-DWN-2010/1 for deep water blocks of the Mumbai Basin. This block is located at a distance of 350 from the offshore of Mumbai covering an area of 7963 sq kilometres in water depths of 2,900 to 3,200 meters.

For BG group this contract represents the first deepest water operated exploration licence in the western coast of India. The group also have its exploration blocks in the KG Basin waiting for certain clearances for starting the work.