India Witnesses Resurgence in Oil and Gas Exploration, With Strategic Focus on Andaman Deepwater: Hardeep Puri

India is experiencing a major revival in its oil and gas exploration sector, with particular momentum in offshore and frontier areas. The Andaman-Nicobar basin, in particular, is gaining prominence as a hotspot for both national and international interest. In a written response in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri credited the upswing to transformative policy changes, advanced seismic data collection, and an aggressive strategy toward unexplored zones.

A pivotal move came in 2022, when the government opened nearly 1 million square kilometers of previously restricted offshore areas for exploration. This decision has significantly boosted activity in deep-sea blocks, especially in the geologically promising Andaman-Nicobar basin.

Since 2015, India’s Exploration and Production (E&P) industry has recorded 172 oil and gas discoveries, with 62 located in offshore regions. The Andaman-Nicobar area—positioned at the convergence of the Indian and Burmese tectonic plates within the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary zone—has emerged as a high-potential frontier. Its geological similarity to gas-rich areas in Myanmar and Indonesia further strengthens its exploration value.

Minister Puri highlighted that public-sector companies have begun exploratory drilling in the region to test geological theories and verify the presence of active petroleum systems. A major development is the deepwater drilling campaign by ONGC and Oil India Ltd (OIL) in ultra-deep zones of the Andaman Sea, where wells are being drilled up to depths of 5,000 meters.

One such well, ANDW-7, located in the East Andaman Back Arc, has shown promising early signs. These include light crude oil, condensates, heavy hydrocarbons such as neo-pentane, and rock formations suitable for storing hydrocarbons. Although commercial viability has yet to be confirmed, the well provides the first direct evidence of a functioning thermogenic petroleum system in the region.

Citing exploration outcomes, Puri shared that ONGC has identified hydrocarbon reserves in 20 blocks, with an estimated total of 75 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE). OIL, on the other hand, has reported seven discoveries, with reserves amounting to nearly 10 million barrels of oil and over 2,700 million standard cubic meters of natural gas.

These current exploration campaigns are building on the foundation laid by the 2017 Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment, which pegged the basin’s total potential at 371 MMTOE. In 2024, an 80,000-line-kilometre 2D broadband seismic survey covering India’s Exclusive Economic Zone, including the Andaman offshore area, was completed. OIL had earlier gathered over 22,000 line kilometers of seismic data during its 2021–22 Deep Andaman Offshore Survey, identifying key geological features now under assessment through drilling.

Puri credited the surge in exploration to critical reforms launched since 2014. These include replacing the older Production Sharing Contract model with the Revenue Sharing Contract, rolling out the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) and the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP), launching the National Data Repository, and liberalizing crude oil marketing in 2022. According to him, these initiatives have helped create a business-friendly environment, encouraging investment and innovation in frontier oil and gas exploration.