Oil India Limited (OIL), a Maharatna company under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, announced on Friday the discovery of natural gas in its second exploratory well in the Andaman Shallow Offshore Block, marking a key milestone in its ongoing exploration efforts.
In a press release, the company revealed that the well, named Vijayapuram-2, was drilled in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1 under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). Preliminary testing of samples taken during intermittent inflows as part of initial production testing confirmed the presence of natural gas.
This discovery is significant for India’s exploration initiatives. OIL stated that further analysis, including gas isotope studies, is underway to determine the origin of the gas. These studies will help clarify whether the gas is related to a source, migration pathway, or hydrocarbon accumulation.
The release highlighted that, based on preliminary assessments, this discovery could provide key insights into the presence of a source, migration route, or hydrocarbon accumulation, which will inform future exploration and drilling strategies.
Additionally, the company is conducting further testing on higher prospects within the block to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the reported gas occurrence.
This marks the first confirmed presence of hydrocarbons in the current exploration campaign in the Andaman Shallow Offshore Block.
