New Delhi, Aug 10: Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Sunday that India’s energy sector is rising through global uncertainty with the reforms that have been rolled out in the oil and gas sector.

"While the world faces fuel volatility, India is moving ahead with reforms. Oil refining capacity in the country has increased from 215 to 258 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA), and Jamnagar is now Asia’s largest refinery, exporting petroleum products to 100+ countries," the minister said in a post on X.

Highlighting the reforms in the upstream oil & gas exploration and production segment, the minister said that the open acreage licensing policy (OALP) Round 10 has unlocked 2.5 lakh sq km for further exploration and production. The clearances required for exploration have also been reduced from 37 to 18 to facilitate the ease of doing business.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is driving India’s energy security through resilience with over $1.3 billion having been invested in the upstream segment to increase oil exploration and production," he said.

The minister has also recently highlighted in the Parliament that India is witnessing a renewed surge in oil and gas exploration with the opening of nearly one million square kilometres of erstwhile 'No-Go' offshore areas in 2022.

Since 2015, Exploration and Production (E&P) companies operating in India have reported 172 hydrocarbon discoveries, including 62 in offshore areas. Puri highlighted the geological significance of the AN basin, which lies at the junction of the Andaman and Nicobar Basins within the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system.

The tectonic setting, located at the boundary of the Indian and Burmese plates, has led to the formation of numerous stratigraphic traps that are conducive to hydrocarbon accumulation. This geological promise is further amplified by the basin's proximity to proven petroleum systems in Myanmar and North Sumatra. The region has attracted renewed global interest following significant gas discoveries in South Andaman offshore Indonesia, underlining the geological continuity across the region, the minister explained.

In a significant development, ONGC and 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, the minister further 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, the minister said.

Providing an overview of the exploration outcomes so far, the Minister informed that ONGC has made hydrocarbon discoveries in 20 blocks, with an estimated reserve of 75 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE). Oil India Ltd., on its part, has made seven oil and gas discoveries over the past four years, with reserves estimated at 9.8 million barrels of oil and 2,706.3 million standard cubic meters of gas.

(IANS)

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