Oil companies in India and Europe evaluating offers for Guyana blocks

18 Jan 2023 CW Team

Despite the government's ongoing efforts to finalise the terms of the auction, leading energy corporations from Asia and Europe are reportedly interested in Guyana's future round of bidding for offshore territories. The South American nation aims to fast grow its oil sector and enlist investors to compete with a consortium managed by Exxon Mobil Corp that currently controls all output. In order to access the more than 11 billion barrels of oil discovered so far, the Exxon group has laid out plans to put at least seven boats.

The state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp’s international investment arm, ONGC Videsh, is thinking about making a bid for some of the 14 exploration zones the nation has made available. Refiner Indian Oil Corp. wants to work in Guyana alongside ONGC Videsh, according to people familiar with the discussions. Irfaan Ali, the president of Guyana, visited India this month and invited energy businesses to take part in the auction. A few days later, he extended the same invitation to Chinese corporations. According to officials, Guyana may take into account giving key partners direct land allocations through government-to-government agreements.

A spokeswoman said in a statement that “ONGC Videsh continues to consider, evaluate, and process many global business possibilities. We refrain from commenting on specific opportunities until there are firm agreements in place, both out of respect for confidentiality and as a matter of policy.” Three deepwater and 11 shallow-water blocks, each averaging 2,000 square kilometres, are being offered by Guyana (722 sq miles). The opening of bids is anticipated for April in Georgetown. Two other persons with knowledge of the situation indicated that several European businesses have recently looked into the rules of the auction in order to contemplate bidding. According to Alistair Routledge, the company’s national manager for Guyana, Exxon is thinking about making a bid on the blocks.

Infrastructure Transport

12 Mar 2026

Kavach 4.0 Commissioned on Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah

"Kavach version four has been commissioned on 1,452 route km, covering the high density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah corridors. The rollout included laying 8,570 km of optical fibre, installation of 1,100 telecom towers, deployment of trackside equipment over 6,776 RKm and establishment of 767 station data centres. Trackside implementation has been taken up on 24,427 RKm covering Golden Quadrilateral, Golden Diagonal and High Density Network sections. The programme aims to strengthen signalling and train protection on key routes.Kavach is an indigenously developed automatic train protecti..

Railways Advance Kalyan–Murbad Line And Mumbai Capacity Expansion

"Indian Railways is advancing multiple rail infrastructure projects in Maharashtra, including the sanctioned Kalyan–Murbad new line and sizable investments under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project and the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High Speed Rail project. The Kalyan–Murbad 28 km new line has been sanctioned at Rs 8.36 billion (bn) on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis with the Government of Maharashtra and has been declared a Special Railway Project for land acquisition; proposals covering 214 hectares are at various stages of acquisition. Budgetary outlay for projects falling fully or partly in Maharash..

Parliamentary Panel Flags Funding Gaps in Heavy Industries

"The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry (Rajya Sabha) presented its 332nd report on the Demands for Grants 2026-27 of the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI). Figures converted from crore and lakh are expressed in million (mn). The Budget Estimates 2026-27 for the Ministry stand at Rs 79,399 mn against a projected requirement of Rs 94,843.2 mn, a shortfall of about 16 per cent, with revenue at Rs 79,370.8 mn and capital compressed to Rs 28.2 mn from Rs 5,020 mn.The committee flagged recurring BE-to-RE compression and declining revised estimate utilisation, and calle..