India expanding energy infra for self-reliance: Puri

Blitz Bureau

NEW DELHI: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that India is powering its quest for energy infrastructure with a focus on strengthening and expanding energy infrastructure in the country. For a growing India, real freedom means securing energy with its own resources for consumers, Puri said in a post on X.

Puri said that 67 million people refuel on India’s energy network every day, and the country is currently the third-largest energy consumer in the world. He highlighted that 172 oil & gas discoveries have been made since 2015, unlocking self-sufficiency in the energy sector. These oil and gas discoveries include 62 in offshore areas. Puri had earlier emphasised the geological significance of the Andaman and Nicobar Basin. “The region has attracted renewed global interest following significant gas discoveries in South Andaman offshore Indonesia, underlining the geological continuity across the region,” Puri said.

In a significant development, the ONGC and the Oil India Ltd (OIL) have launched an ambitious exploration campaign in the Andaman ultra-deepwater region. For the first time, drilling operations are targeting depths of up to 5,000 metres. One such wildcat well, ANDW-7, drilled in a carbonate play in the East Andaman Back Arc region, has yielded encouraging geological insights. These include traces of light crude and condensate in cutting samples, heavy hydrocarbons like C-5 neo-pentane in trip gases, Puri stated.

“These findings establish, for the first time, the existence of an active thermogenic petroleum system in the region, comparable to those in Myanmar and north Sumatra. While commercial reserves remain to be established, this campaign has validated the presence of a working petroleum system and laid the foundation for focused exploration in the area,” Puri said.

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