India is witnessing a renewed surge in oil and gas exploration, particularly in offshore regions, underscoring the country’s vast untapped hydrocarbon potential, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Parliament on Tuesday.
Puri in Rajya Sabha stated that the opening of nearly one million square kilometres of erstwhile ‘No-Go’ offshore areas in 2022 has been a landmark development. This move has unlocked significant exploration frontiers, especially in deepwater and frontier regions such as the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) offshore basin, and has been instrumental in triggering the current momentum in offshore activity, the Minister stated, according to the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
Since 2015, Exploration and Production (E&P) companies operating in India have reported 172 hydrocarbon discoveries, including 62 in offshore areas, he said.
The Minister highlighted the geological significance of the Andaman-Nicobar basin, which lies within the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system.
He stated that the tectonic setting located at the boundary of the Indian and Burmese plates has led to the formation of numerous stratigraphic traps that are conducive to hydrocarbon accumulation.
This geological promise is further amplified by the basin’s proximity to proven petroleum systems in Myanmar and North Sumatra, he added.
The region has attracted renewed global interest following significant gas discoveries in South Andaman offshore Indonesia, underlining the geological continuity across the region, he stated.
While the favourable geology sets a strong foundation, Puri emphasised that the real breakthrough has come from the government’s strategic policy interventions and a new exploration approach.
“The revised strategy has enabled aggressive acquisition of seismic data, initiation of both stratigraphic and exploratory drilling, and increased engagement with international exploration partners, several of whom have shown keen interest in the newly accessible frontier blocks,” the Minister added.
Puri said that the national Oil Companies have planned to drill four offshore stratigraphic wells, including one in the AN basin.
“These scientific wells are designed to test geological models, validate the existence of petroleum systems, and help de-risk future commercial exploration. Although commercial accumulations have not yet been confirmed, these efforts mark a major step forward in systematic and knowledge-driven hydrocarbon exploration,” he added according to the Ministry’s release.
In a significant development, ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have launched an ambitious exploration campaign in the Andaman ultra-deepwater region. For the first time, drilling operations are targeting depths of up to 5000 metres.
Providing an overview of the exploration outcomes so far, the Minister informed that ONGC has made hydrocarbon discoveries in 20 blocks, with an estimated reserve of 75 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE). OIL, on its part, has made seven oil and gas discoveries over the past four years, with reserves estimated at 9.8 million barrels of oil and 2,706.3 million standard cubic meters of gas.
Referring to the Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment Study (HRAS) of 2017, which estimated the AN basin’s hydrocarbon potential at 371 MMTOE, the Minister stated that a 2D broadband seismic survey covering approximately 80,000 Line Kilometres (LKM) of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone, including the AN offshore region, was completed in 2024.
Additionally, OIL acquired 22,555 LKM of 2D seismic data during the Deep Andaman Offshore Survey conducted in 2021-22. Several promising geological features have emerged from this data, which are now being validated through ongoing drilling campaigns by ONGC and OIL, Puri added in his reply.
