The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has decided to offer its 32 'marginal' fields to private operators.

Subir Raha, chairman and managing director, ONGC, said bids for 16 fields has been received, while offers for the rest would be floated soon.

"ONGC is in the process of short listing bidders for 16 onshore fields. Contracts will be awarded soon. Simultaneously, ONGC has identified 16 other offshore fields which will be given to private operators," Raha said in Kolkata.

ONGC has 93 such 'marginal' fields, all of which were acquired before the New Exploration Licensing Policy regime came into being. All of them have proven reserves, albeit too small for a behemoth like ONGC to invest in.

"The kind of overhead this company has does not justify setting up operations at these fields some of which are in distant areas. On the other hand, there are private companies which can operate with fewer overheads," Raha said.

According to the agreement, ONGC will enter into long-term production sharing contracts with private firms. PSCs will vary from field-to-field.

The ownership of the field will remain with the state-owned company. If they perform above routine, there will be bonus for them.

For performing below the benchmark, a penalty will be slapped on them. ONGC had these fields for a long time but did not commence operations. Recently the firm decided to have a re-look at these properties to maximise returns.