India close to major oil discovery in Andaman Sea announces Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri
India is close to a Guyana-like oil discovery in the Andaman Sea, which could reduce its crude oil import dependency.
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has announced that India is on the brink of a major crude oil breakthrough in the Andaman Sea, which can be compared to the massive discovery by Hess Corporation and CNOOC in Guyana.
This potential milestone follows strategic policy reforms introduced post 2016 which includes the shift from production sharing to revenue sharing arrangement.
According to the reports, India is currently importing nearly 85-86% of its crude oil and ranked as the world’s third largest importer after the U.S and China.
If India manages to succeed in discovering oil reserves in the Andaman Sea, it could drastically decrease our dependency on oil imports and domestic production.
Currently, India’s crude oil is sourced from regions like Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Mumbai High, and the Krishna-Godavari Basin. Additionally, strategic reserves are located in Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, and Padur with new reserves proposed in Odisha and Rajasthan.
Exploration, drilling activities and survey operations led by Companies like Oil India and ONGC have reportedly been started in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
