New Delhi The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) is likely to consider awarding of eight more oil and gas blocks that were offered in the ninth round of bidding under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), on Tuesday.

The government had offered 34 areas for exploration and production of oil and gas in NELP-IX in 2010 and bids for 33 were received at the close of bidding on March 28 last year. Of these, CCEA in March awarded 16 blocks to firms, while bids for 10 blocks were rejected due to bidders offering lesser than expected profit petroleum.