India's Offshore Oil Boom: Unleashing Untapped Potential

India is experiencing a resurgence in offshore oil and gas exploration, with new discoveries and government initiatives unlocking vast hydrocarbon resources. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced that seismic surveys and strategic policies have revitalized exploration activities, especially in the Andaman-Nicobar basin, attracting international attention and investments.

India is poised for an unprecedented surge in offshore oil and gas exploration, spotlighting the country's vast untapped hydrocarbon reserves, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri informed the Parliament on Tuesday. The opening of nearly one million square kilometers of former 'No-Go' areas in 2022 has been a game-changer, enhancing exploration ventures in deepwater and frontier regions like the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) offshore basin, Puri revealed during the Rajya Sabha session.

Since 2015, India's Exploration and Production (E&P) companies have reported 172 hydrocarbon discoveries, with 62 located offshore. The geological richness of the Andaman-Nicobar basin, part of the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system, holds potential due to its tectonic location at the convergence of the Indian and Burmese plates. This formation fosters stratigraphic traps favorable for hydrocarbon deposits, solidified by proximity to established petroleum regions in Myanmar and North Sumatra, Puri elaborated.

Following significant gas finds in South Andaman offshore Indonesia, global interest has rekindled, bolstered by the Indian government's policy reforms and a revamped exploration methodology. Aggressive seismic data acquisition, targeted drilling efforts, and collaboration with foreign exploration partners are pivotal in this exploration renaissance, outlined by Puri. National oil companies are setting sights on ultra-deepwater drilling in the Andaman region, aiming for depths up to 5000 meters. The collaboration seeks to unlock hydrocarbons in 20 ONGC blocks and discover new reserves, marking a significant leap in India's energy landscape.

(With inputs from agencies.)