NEW DELHI, Oct. 21 (UPI) — Mining giant BHP Billiton has exited from 10 Indian oil and gas exploratory fields due to clearance delays. The exploration blocks were awarded from 2008 to 2010 under the Indian government’s new exploration licensing policy, known as NELP, India’s Livemint newspaper reported Monday. The report said BHP Billiton, based in Melbourne, Australia, will continue to explore a deepwater field in the Mumbai basin in which it signed a production-sharing contract in 2012 with the government, along with the United Kingdom’s BG Group Plc. The two companies have equal stake in the block. “BHP Billiton has exited all its NELP blocks [other than the one with BG Group] because of delays in defense clearance,” the newspaper quoted an unnamed source familiar with the decision, as saying. Indian infrastructure and energy-focused conglomerate GVK has a majority stake in seven of the 10 blocks. GVK acknowledged […]