India did not get an overwhelming response from global energy giants for the 34 oil and gas blocks auctioned on Thursday while a few dark horses such as Sankalp Oil and Natural Resources, Ishar Gas Oil, Chinar Commerce, Pratibha Oil and Natural Gas and PIC bagged 10 blocks.

These companies, hardly known in the exploration sector and whose financial strength is unknown, have been selected as provisional winners for the same blocks contested by exploration giants such as ONGC and Reliance Industries (RIL).

For instance, ONGC and RIL had bid for the onshore block, CB-ONN-2010/10, in Cambay basin, which was bagged by Sankalp. Similarly, Ishar bagged RJ-ONN-2010/1, an onshore block in Rajasthan, competing against RIL, ONGC, Gail and BPRL.

While government-owned companies such as ONGC, Oil India, Gail and BPRL bid for 33 blocks, private companies placed 41 bids. Of these, ONGC bid as operator for 27 blocks and OIL for two blocks.At the end of the auction, ONGC got 10 blocks, five each in deepwater and shallow water.

OIL bagged three blocks, one in shallow water and two onshore.

RIL, controlled by Mukesh Ambani, won two out of the six blocks it bid, and they are in deepwater. Essar Oil, controlled by Ruias, bagged the only block it bid at Cambay. Cairn India failed to secure the two blocks it sought.

Even though the response from global giants was lukewarm, oil minister S Jaipal Reddy said, “The response of exploration and production industry has been encouraging. The bid evaluation criteria under new exploration and licensing policy (NELP) are based on quantitative and transparent parameters, thereby enhancing investor confidence in the policies.”

He said 74 bids were received for 33 of the 34 blocks offered in the ninth round of new exploration and licensing policy .

In this round, 19 blocks attracted multiple bids, whereas eight small blocks received 26 bids.

An additional 14 blocks received only one bid each. Of them, five each were in deepwater and shallow water, and four onshore.

Foreign companies that participated in the auction include Mauritius’ Birkbeck Investment, Canada’s East West Petroleum, Bahamas-based Heramec, Australia’s BHP Billiton, and BG Exploration and Production from Cayman Islands.

The blocks would be awarded for exploration in three months.