New Delhi.In terms of the country's energy needs, an important news has come out from the maritime region of Odisha. Indications of natural gas have been found during ONGC's drilling in the Mahanadi Basin. This well is about 43 kilometers from the coast of Odisha. On September 18, gas was confirmed to have been found during drilling at a depth of about 1450 meters.
According to the company, there is continuous flow of gas from the well. At present, the biggest question regarding this discovery is its actual potential. The total reserves of gas and whether regular production can be done from here or not will be known through further technical assessment. Therefore, the final picture regarding its commercial potential is not clear yet.
Part of drilling four wells
MDW 28 is the first well in this campaign. Its excavation was started from 25th July. Located in a subsea area of about 770 meters of water, the well is in the vicinity of the Utkal and Konark discoveries made in 2024. Its distance from Konark is said to be about 23 nautical miles.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has described this discovery as important for the efforts to explore oil and gas in the sea. If similar facilities can be used along with existing discoveries, there is a possibility of reducing both the cost and time in developing projects in future.
Increased focus on deep sea area
This entire campaign is going on under the 'Samudra Manthan' initiative in those parts of the Mahanadi Basin where the deep sea resources have not yet been fully assessed. According to estimates, there are about 45 million tonnes of resources in the land part of the basin and about 100 million tonnes in the shallow water area.
The Center had approved a budget of Rs 84,084 crore for 'Samudra Manthan' in July. This program is to run till 2030-31. The government aims to potentially increase the country's hydrocarbon resources by more than 600 million tonnes through this campaign.