Oil India Limited discovered the presence of natural gas in an exploratory well drilled in the Andaman Sea, marking a significant development in India’s offshore exploration efforts, announced union minister for petroleum and natural gas Hardeep Puri.The discovery has been made in the “Sri Vijayapuram-3” well, located about 15 km off the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 355 metres. The well was drilled to a depth of over 1,900 metres in the Eocene formation, where continuous flaring during initial production testing indicated the presence of natural gas.“An ocean of energy opportunities reinforced in the Andaman Sea! 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,” said Puri in a statement on X.Oil India Limited is currently conducting gas sampling to assess its composition and calorific value, along with isotope studies to understand the origin of the gas.The development comes under the government’s “Samudra Manthan Mission” (National Deep Water Exploration Mission), announced as part of a broader push to expand deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration across India’s offshore basins.According to the company, hydrocarbon presence has now been reported in two out of three exploratory wells drilled in the current campaign in the Andaman Basin. “Under the Samudra Manthan Mission (National Deep Water Exploration Mission) announced by Hon’ble 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,” further said the union minister.The govt further plans on “taking forward exploration ambitions in coordination with global deepwater exploration experts.”
