New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) In a significant development, natural gas has been found in the Andaman basin, confirming the long-held belief that the Andaman Sea is rich in natural gas, Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday.

The minister informed about the occurrence of natural gas in the 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 metres and target depth of 2,650 metres.

"An ocean of energy opportunities opens up in the Andaman Sea," said the minister in a post on social media platform 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 per cent methane," he further stated.

According to the minister, 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 their 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".

"Under the deepwater mission announced by PM Narendra Modi 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," said Puri.

This occurrence of natural gas will help the country take forward its exploration ambitions in coordination with global deepwater exploration experts, and will be a significant milestone in India’s journey through Amrit Kaal, the minister emphasised.

PM Modi, in his Independence Day address, announced the National Deep Water Exploration Mission, which aims to explore oil and gas reserves in the sea. Terming it “Samudra Manthan,” he said that the initiative will be executed in mission mode, highlighting India’s push for self-reliance in the energy sector.

--IANS

na/vd