Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has discovered natural gas in a deepwater exploratory well in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, approximately 43 km off Konark, Odisha.
The discovery was made at the MN-DW18-1-H-D well, the first well drilled by ONGC in the Mahanadi Basin under its Samudra Manthan deepwater exploration campaign. The well was drilled to a target depth of 1,623 metres and encountered a gas-bearing interval at 1,441–1,452 metres.
ONGC said the well has continued to flow gas for three days and has demonstrated encouraging flow characteristics and reservoir pressure.
The company will now undertake further reservoir appraisal, recoverable-resource assessment and commercial evaluation. A development decision will be taken only after establishing the commercial viability of the discovery.
The discovery’s proximity to the Odisha coast could potentially facilitate faster development and monetisation if commercially viable. ONGC is also examining the possibility of developing the discovery along with other regional finds using shared/common infrastructure, in line with provisions under the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025.
The discovery comes as ONGC accelerates exploration in India’s deepwater basins with the objective of increasing domestic hydrocarbon production and reducing dependence on imports.
