Oil India reports natural gas occurrence in Andaman shallow offshore block

NEW DELHI: Oil India Limited (OIL), a Maharatna company under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, on Friday reported the occurrence of natural gas in its second exploratory well drilled in the Andaman Shallow Offshore Block, marking a significant step in its ongoing exploration campaign.

The company, in a press release, said the well, named Vijayapuram-2, was drilled in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1 under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). According to the release issued by OIL, preliminary testing confirmed the presence of natural gas after samples were collected during intermittent inflow as part of initial production testing.

An ocean of energy opportunities opens up in the Andaman Sea!
Very happy to report the occurrence of natural gas in 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 meters and target depth… pic.twitter.com/4VDeGtt8bt

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) September 26, 2025

The findings hold importance for India’s exploration roadmap. OIL said further analysis, including gas isotope studies, is being carried out to understand the genesis of the gas. These studies are expected to provide clarity on whether the gas occurrence is linked to a source, a migration pathway, or an accumulation of hydrocarbons.

“As per preliminary assessment, this could be a leading indicator of the presence of source or migration pathway or accumulation of hydrocarbon, which will help in future Exploration and Drilling Strategy,” the release said. The company added that it is also conducting additional testing of higher-up prospects in the block to evaluate the reported occurrence more thoroughly.

The press release noted that this is the first reported occurrence of hydrocarbons during the current exploration campaign in the Andaman Shallow Offshore Block. Given that this is the first reported occurrence of hydrocarbon during the ongoing exploration campaign in the Andaman Shallow Offshore Block, the company said it wishes to keep its valued stakeholders informed. (ANI)