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Energy sector major Oil India Limited has commenced a landmark offshore drilling campaign in the Kerala-Konkan Basin by spudding the first well, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri announced on Saturday.
He termed this landmark development an inspirational stride in India's energy journey guided by the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This frontier Category-III basin holds immense potential, and the planned 6000 m deep well to be drilled 20 nautical miles offshore will be among the deepest offshore wells in Indian waters, Minister Puri wrote on X. "With over 1,028 sq. km of 3D seismic survey already completed, this campaign will probe key Cretaceous plays and strengthen India's pursuit of new energy frontiers," the brief X post concluded. As per estimates, India today imports 80 per cent of its oil and 50 per cent of its natural gas needs. India is now importing oil and gas from as many countries as possible to meet its demand. India is putting in all kinds of effort to ramp up its own traditional fossil-based energy production, and the latest push is to dig deep in the Andaman region. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister, Hardeep Puri, had earlier this year asserted that the exploration in the Andamans is pointing to "good news" and may end up becoming India's 'Guyana moment'. He had noted that a large expanse of sea beds untapped and unexplored. Earlier this month, Oil India Limited (OIL) and TotalEnergies inked a "Technology Service Agreement" here in the national capital to strengthen strategic collaboration for exploration activities in deep and ultra-deepwater offshore frontiers of Indian sedimentary basins, including the stratigraphic wells as mandated by the Indian government. The agreement puts in place a framework to leverage TotalEnergies' world-class expertise in Deep and Ultradeep water exploration value chain across OIL's current and future Offshore portfolio. India has about 3.5 million square kilometres of sedimentary basin, but it was never explored beyond eight per cent area, keeping a large expanse of sea beds untapped and unexplored. (ANI)
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