India Experiences Surge in Oil and Gas Exploration: Minister Hardeep S Puri

New Delhi: India is currently witnessing a significant rise in oil and gas exploration, particularly in offshore areas, highlighting the immense untapped hydrocarbon potential of the country. In a recent response to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Hardeep Singh Puri, revealed that the opening up of nearly one million square kilometers of previously restricted offshore regions in 2022 has been a groundbreaking development. This move has unlocked new exploration opportunities, especially in deepwater and frontier regions like the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) offshore basin, fueling the ongoing surge in offshore activities.

Since 2015, Exploration and Production (E&P) companies operating in India have reported a total of 172 hydrocarbon discoveries, with 62 of them located in offshore areas. Minister Puri highlighted the geological importance of the AN basin, situated at the convergence of the Andaman and Nicobar Basins within the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system. The unique tectonic setting, positioned at the boundary of the Indian and Burmese plates, has led to the creation of various stratigraphic traps conducive to hydrocarbon accumulation. This geological promise is further enhanced by the basin’s proximity to established petroleum systems in Myanmar and North Sumatra, attracting renewed global interest following significant gas discoveries in South Andaman offshore Indonesia.

The government’s strategic policy interventions and a new exploration approach have played a crucial role in leveraging the favorable geology. The revised strategy has facilitated aggressive acquisition of seismic data, initiation of both stratigraphic and exploratory drilling, and enhanced collaboration with international exploration partners, many of whom have shown keen interest in the newly accessible frontier blocks.

Key Developments in Andaman Basin Exploration

• National Oil Companies are planning to drill four offshore stratigraphic wells, including one in the AN basin, to test geological models and de-risk future commercial exploration.
• ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL) have launched an ambitious exploration campaign in the Andaman ultra-deepwater region, targeting depths of up to 5000 meters, yielding promising geological insights.
• Exploration outcomes so far include ONGC’s hydrocarbon discoveries in 20 blocks with an estimated reserve of 75 MMTOE and OIL’s seven oil and gas discoveries with reserves estimated at 9.8 million barrels of oil and 2,706.3 million standard cubic meters of gas.

The Minister highlighted that the current momentum in offshore and frontier exploration is a direct result of progressive policy reforms introduced since 2014. These reforms have fostered a conducive environment for bold, risk-informed, and scientific exploration in regions like the Andaman-Nicobar basin, holding the promise of enhancing India’s energy security and self-reliance significantly.