<span style="color: #222222;">Government has launched the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) Bid Round-7 for International Competitive Bidding. The bids can be submitted through a dedicated online e-bidding portal till 15th February next year.<br />'' <br />'' The award of these blocks is likely be completed by the end of March 2022. Successful award of Round-7 Blocks will add further 15 thousand 766 square kilometre of exploration acreage and cumulative acreage under OALP will be increased to over two lakh square kilometre.<br />''<br />''Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said that the biggest oil and gas tender in the history of the industry has been launched for 75 oil and gas blocks. In a tweet, Mr Singh termed it as a significant step towards boosting India's domestic oil and gas production.</span>