Bhubaneswar, Sep 22: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has discovered natural gas in a deepwater well in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, around 43 km off Konark on the Odisha coast. The discovery marks ONGC’s first well drilled in the basin under its ongoing Samudra Manthan deepwater exploration campaign.

According to the company, the discovery was made on September 18 at the MN-DW18-1-H-D well, designated MDW-28. The well encountered a gas-bearing zone between depths of 1,441 metres and 1,452 metres.

The well was spudded on July 25 using the drillship Platinum Explorer and drilled to a target depth of 1,623 metres. Following evaluation of subsurface data, the well was perforated on September 18 and has since been flowing gas.

ONGC said the well is currently producing gas at an encouraging rate and has maintained healthy reservoir pressure. However, the company clarified that the discovery has not yet been established as commercially viable.

Further appraisal and evaluation will be required to determine the size of the discovery, recoverable resources and its development potential.

The discovery’s proximity to the Odisha coast could support future development if commercial viability is established. ONGC said the find could potentially be developed alongside other discoveries in the region through shared infrastructure and facilities.

The development comes as ONGC expands exploration in India’s deepwater and ultra-deepwater basins to boost domestic hydrocarbon production and strengthen the country’s energy security.

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