"Moving towards much more intensive E&P phase": Hardeep Singh Puri unveils major offshore & coal bed methane push

Speaking at an industry event in New Delhi, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri highlighted the award of eight contracts under the Special Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Bid Rounds, the release of the India Hydrocarbon Outlook 2026, and progress made under the newly launched flagship initiative, Samudra Manthan Yojana.

In a major push to accelerate domestic hydrocarbon output and expand energy security, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Thursday announced key milestones in India's upstream oil and gas sector. Speaking at an industry event in New Delhi, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri highlighted the award of eight contracts under the Special Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Bid Rounds, the release of the India Hydrocarbon Outlook 2026, and progress made under the newly launched flagship initiative, Samudra Manthan Yojana.

Addressing the media and industry stakeholders, Minister Puri outlined the government’s efforts to convert geological potential into productive reserves. "We awarded a total of eight contracts to successful bidders in the Special Coal Bed Methane (CBM) Bid Rounds 2025 and 2026. This marks a renewed push in the unconventional gas segment. India's coal bed methane resource base is estimated at around 2,600 billion cubic metres (BCM). We also unveiled the India Hydrocarbon Outlook 2026 today, which provides a strategic map of our policy initiatives and emerging sectoral opportunities. This publication aims to promote transparency and support informed investment decisions," said Puri.

Highlighting structural reforms in the licensing framework, Puri emphasised that the government has opened up vast areas of sedimentary basins that were previously restricted. In his address, the Minister laid out a snapshot of India's upstream push. He said nearly 1 million sq km has been unlocked by opening up over 99% of previously restricted offshore and onshore No-Go areas for active bidding. On drilling activity, he noted that 674 wells were drilled nationwide in FY 2025-26, including 131 exploratory wells and 543 development wells.

Under OALP Rounds 10 and 11, over 2.96 lakh sq km of acreage has been offered across various sedimentary basins, he said. He added that India's Coal Bed Methane potential is estimated at 2,600 billion cubic metres. "As domestic oil production is concerned, let me tell you that Modi ji's government has done something that no government anywhere in the world has done. We have opened up one million square kilometres of our 3.5 million square kilometres of sedimentary basins. This area of one million square kilometres used to be designated as a no-go area. Today, it is open for exploration. In the previous rounds, up to OALP Round 9, I think around 75 per cent of the bids came from this area. Now, with OALP Rounds 10 and 11, I think almost 100 per cent of the bids will come from there," he said.

Puri underscored the strategic role of Samudra Manthan Yojana, a flagship government initiative aimed at incentivising high-risk offshore and deepwater drilling through a state-backed risk-sharing model. "The Samudra Manthan Yojana involves making government resources of up to ₹84,700 crore available for drilling approximately 150 wells over three years... When I say that ₹84,700 crore has been made available, what does that mean? It means that the government is incentivising the private sector to invest. All I can say is that, after many years of neglect, we are moving towards a much more intensive and, I believe, successful exploration and production (E&P) phase," said Puri.

Notably, the Union Cabinet approved the Samudra Manthan Yojana with an official Phase-I outlay of ₹84,084 crore up to FY 2030–31. (ANI)