Oil India discovers natural gas in Andaman offshore, marking first hydrocarbon find in region and potential step toward reducing India’s imports.
State-run Oil India Ltd (OIL) has announced the discovery of natural gas reserves in the shallow offshore region of the Andaman Islands. The company confirmed the occurrence of gas in its second exploratory well, Vijayapuram-2, drilled under the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1. This block was awarded to OIL under India’s Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), a framework that encourages private and public players to explore new hydrocarbon prospects.
According to OIL’s statement, initial testing has confirmed the presence of natural gas through intermittent inflows during preliminary production tests. The collected gas samples have undergone laboratory analysis, verifying their composition, while additional isotope studies are being carried out to determine the genesis and migration patterns of the resource. The company highlighted that this is the first confirmed occurrence of hydrocarbons in the ongoing Andaman Shallow Offshore exploration campaign.
The discovery is particularly significant as India relies heavily on imports to meet its energy requirements—about 88% of crude oil demand and nearly half of its natural gas needs are sourced from overseas. OIL, along with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), has been carrying out exploratory work in the Andaman basin with the strategic aim of reducing this dependency.
ONGC had earlier begun ultra-deepwater drilling in the Andaman offshore region, notably with its ANE-E well spudded in March this year. However, the company has yet to disclose the outcomes of that project. In contrast, OIL’s find offers a more concrete indicator of the potential for hydrocarbon reserves in this frontier basin.
Preliminary assessments suggest that the Vijayapuram-2 discovery may signal the presence of a migration pathway or accumulation zones of hydrocarbons. This could significantly guide future exploration activities and drilling strategies in the region. Additional testing of higher stratigraphic prospects is currently underway to further evaluate the extent and commercial prospects of the find.
Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri also confirmed the development in a post on X. He revealed that the well was drilled at a location approximately 9.20 nautical miles (about 17 km) off the east coast of the Andaman Islands, at a water depth of 295 metres and a target depth of 2,650 metres. He described this as the first hydrocarbon occurrence in the Andaman region and linked it to his longstanding assertion that the basin could hold oil and gas reserves on a scale comparable to Guyana.
Puri noted that initial production testing, conducted at depths between 2,212 and 2,250 metres, established natural gas flows with intermittent flaring. Gas samples transported to Kakinada were analyzed and found to contain 87% methane, indicating high quality. While the commercial viability and reserve size will only be confirmed after further studies, this marks a milestone in India’s exploration efforts in the Andaman basin. The discovery strengthens the belief that this basin could be a rich natural gas province, aligning with similar discoveries across the regional geological belt extending from Myanmar to Indonesia.
