India’s state-owned oil and gas company (ONGC) announced new oil and gas discoveries in the offshore oil and gas basin of Mumbai, which are expected to increase the production of this upstream oil giant in the short term. When ONGC released its quarterly financial report for the period from January to March 2024, it disclosed that the newly discovered “Suryamani” and “Vajramani” oil and gas fields are located within the blocks granted under the Open Block Licensing Policy (OALP).
In the test of the MBS202HAA-1 exploration well in the MB-OSHP-2020/2 block, this well achieved a daily output of 2,235 barrels of crude oil and 451.81 million cubic meters of natural gas in the first quarter of this year. ONGC pointed out in the statement: “This is the first discovery in the BM-OSHP-2020/2 basement clastic rock of the OALP block. The success of well MBS202HAA-1 has been recognized as a new prospective discovery and renamed ‘Suryamani’.” Subsequently, tests were conducted on the second layer of the same well in this quarter, achieving a production capacity of 413 barrels of crude oil and 15,132 cubic meters of natural gas per day. This is the first time that oil and gas resources have been discovered in the Mukta formation in this block, and it has been confirmed as a new reservoir discovery in the “Suryamani” vision.
Meanwhile, during the test of the MBS181HNA-1 exploration well in MB-OSHP-2018/1 of Block OALP-III, 2,122 barrels of crude oil and 83,120 cubic meters of natural gas were achieved per day. This discovery is an independent fault loop nose-like structure located in the west of the MB-OSHP-2018/1 block. The success of the MBS181HNA-1 well has been recognized as a new prospect discovery and named ‘Vajramani’. ONGC added. In addition to the offshore area of Mumbai, the company also made oil and gas discoveries in the onshore block of the KG Basin in the first quarter of this year – the Yandapalli-1 exploration well, which was drilled to a depth of 3,958 meters in the Malleswaram PML area on the onshore of the KG Basin, has identified oil and gas reserves and been listed as a new prospective discovery.
These findings inject hope into India’s energy security. Due to the gradual aging of the existing oil and gas fields in ONGC, India’s oil and gas imports have continued to rise. Currently, about 85% of its oil demand relies on imports. This new discovery not only demonstrates the effectiveness of block development under the OALP policy, but also provides potential support for alleviating India’s reliance on foreign energy.
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