 "Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Firstpost")
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that a significant natural gas reserve discovered 17 km off the Andaman coast has marked “a new chapter in India’s energy story.”
In a post on X, Puri on Tuesday said, “A new chapter in India’s energy story unfolds. Major natural gas reserve discovered 17 km off the Andaman coast at 2,650 m depth. Preliminary studies show gas with ~87% methane - clean, efficient & high-quality."
“Aligned with PM@narendramodi ji’s vision, this discovery adds strength to India’s mission for energy security and offshore exploration. The Andaman Basin is emerging as India’s next offshore frontier,” he added.
Last month, India had confirmed the presence of natural gas in the Andaman basin, marking a milestone in the country’s deepwater exploration ambitions.
Announcing the discovery, Puri had called it “an ocean of energy opportunities”.
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More Shorts“An ocean of energy opportunities opens up in the Andaman Sea! Very happy to report the occurrence of natural gas in Sri Vijayapuram 2 well at a distance of 9.20 NM (17 km) from the shoreline on the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 295 meters and target depth of 2650 meters,” Puri posted on X.
“Initial production testing of the well in the range of 2212 – 2250 meters has established the presence of natural gas with intermittent flaring. The gas samples were brought by ship to Kakinada, were tested and found to be 87% methane. The size of the gas pool and commercial viability of the discovery will get verified in the coming months but establishing the presence of hydrocarbons in the Andaman basin is a major step in confirming our long held belief that Andaman basin is rich in natural gas, in line with discoveries in the entire area from Myanmar in North to Indonesia in the south in this belt,” he added.
Puri said as part of the Deepwater Exploration Mission announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Independence Day, India is set to significantly expand drilling operations across its offshore basins.
“Under the deepwater mission announced by Hon’ble PM@narendramodi Ji on Independence Day, large number of deepwater exploration wells are planned in our offshore basins in order to find new discoveries and fully exploit our hydrocarbon reserves. This occurrence of natural gas will help us in taking forward our exploration ambitions in coordination with global deepwater exploration experts like @petrobras @bp_india @Shell @exxonmobil and will be a significant milestone in our journey through Amrit Kaal!” he added.
Earlier, Oil India Limited (OIL), a Maharatna company under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas had reported the occurrence of natural gas in its second exploratory well drilled in the Andaman Shallow Offshore Block.
In a statement, OIL said “occurrence of natural gas” was reported in the second exploratory well Vijayapuram-2 drilled in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1, which the company had won under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).
With inputs from agencies