In a first, govt reports natural gas presence off Andaman Islands

In a major breakthrough for India’s energy security needs, the government on Friday confirmed the discovery of natural gas in the Andaman Sea.

The occurrence has been reported in Sri Vijayapuram 2 well at a distance of 9.20 nautical miles (17 km) from the shoreline on the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 295 m and target depth of 2,650 m.

“An ocean of energy opportunities just opened up in the Andaman Sea,” Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri said.

The minister said initial production testing of the well in the range of 2,212-2,250 m had 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 per cent 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,” Puri said.

The announcement came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the establishment of National Deepwater Mission to explore new energy sources to reduce Indian dependence on imports for its needs.

Puri said under the mission announced by the PM on Independence Day, a large number of deepwater exploration wells were planned in national 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 and Exxon Mobil, and will be a significant milestone in our journey through Amrit Kaal,” said Puri.

India is a major importer of natural gas, with imports totaling approximately $14.98 billion and 27.8 million metric tonne in 2024. Imports is mostly as liquefied natural gas (LNG). Qatar is India’s largest supplier, and the US and the United Arab Emirates are also major sources. In the wake of low domestic production India’s import dependence is high.