'Ocean of Opportunities': Natural Gas Discovered Off Andaman Islands At Depths Of 355 Metres | VIDEO

New Delhi: Oil India Limited has reported the presence of natural gas in its third exploratory well in the Andaman offshore block.

The natural gas presence was reported in the Vijayapuram-3 exploratory well, located around 15 km off the east coast of the Andaman Islands. The well was drilled at a water depth of 355 metres in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1 under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy.

According to Oil India, initial production testing at a depth of over 1,900 metres in the Eocene formation established the presence of natural gas through continuous flaring. The company said an immediate pressure build-up was observed after perforation and the well started to produce.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri hailed the discovery and congratulated Oil India Limited. In a post on X, he wrote, “An ocean of energy opportunities reinforced in the Andaman Sea!”

The Union Minister further said, “Very happy to report the presence of natural gas in Sri Vijayapuram-3 an exploratory well drilled by Oil India Ltd.  15 km off the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 355 meters. Initial production testing of the well at the depth of 1900 plus meters in the Eocene formation has established the presence of natural gas through continuous flaring. Oil India is carrying out gas sampling to assess the composition & calorific value of gas and to carry out isotope studies to understand the genesis of the gas.”

“Under the Samudra Manthan Mission (National Deep Water Exploration Mission) announced by PM Narendra Modi Ji on Independence Day 2025, large number of deepwater & Ultra deepwater exploration wells are planned in our offshore basins to fully exploit our hydrocarbon reserves. Presence of hydrocarbon is now reported in 2(Two) wells out of 3 (Three) exploratory wells drilled by OIL in current exploratory campaign off Andaman Basin."

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