Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced the discovery of natural gas in Andaman basin | Current Affairs | Vision IAS
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Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced the discovery of natural gas in Andaman basin

Posted 27 Sep 2025

2 min read

Article Summary

Article Summary

India announced natural gas discovery in the Andaman Basin, supporting its goal of increasing natural gas share to 15% by 2030 amid ongoing exploration initiatives.

Ministry informed about the occurrence of natural gas in the Sri Vijayapuram 2 well at 17 km from the shoreline on the east coast of the Andaman Islands.

  • India’s Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment Study (HRAS) estimates hydrocarbon resources of 371 million Metric Tons of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE) in the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) Basin.
    • Geologically, the AN basin lies at the intersection of the Andaman and Nicobar Basins, part of the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system
    • Tectonic setting at the boundary of the Indian and Burmese plates have created numerous stratigraphic traps conducive to hydrocarbon accumulation.
    • Earlier, gas has been discovered in adjacent basins along North Sumatra (Indonesia) and Irrawaddy-Margui (Myanmar)
  • The discovery aligns with India’s vision of establishing a Gas Based Economy by 2030 and increasing share of natural gas in its primary energy basket to 15 percent by 2030.
    • Currently, India’s natural gas production meets only around 50% of its demand with rest demand being fulfilled through imports.
      • Qatar, US and UAE are major sources of India’s Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) imports. 

Initiatives for Natural Gas Exploration

  • Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) 2016: Introduced a uniform licensing framework for all hydrocarbon exploration and production and introduced Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).
  • National Deep Water Exploration Mission: Under it, large number of deepwater exploration wells are planned in offshore basins to find new discoveries and fully exploit hydrocarbon reserves.
  • Other Initiatives: National Data Repository, National Seismic Program, 100% FDI in natural gas sector etc. 
  • Tags :
  • Natural Gas Exploration
  • Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment Study (HRAS) estimates
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