July 27, 2026: In a major push towards unlocking India's offshore hydrocarbon potential and reducing dependence on imported crude oil and natural gas, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has begun drilling its first deepwater exploratory well in the Mahanadi offshore basin off the Odisha coast.
 
The exploratory well, named MN-DW18-1-H-D, is located around 23 nautical miles from ONGC's Konark discovery, marking the beginning of one of the country's most ambitious and technically challenging deepwater exploration campaigns. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri spudded the deepwater exploratory well from New Delhi on Saturday.
 
The drilling assumes significance as India intensifies efforts to tap vast untapped deepwater and ultra-deepwater offshore reserves under the ambitious Samudra Manthan Campaign, following the Centre's decision to open nearly one million square kilometres of previously restricted offshore areas for oil and gas exploration under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).
 
According to ONGC, India's eastern and western offshore basins, extending to water depths of up to 3,000 metres, are estimated to hold more than 5,600 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MTOE) of hydrocarbon resources, making deepwater exploration the country's next major energy frontier.

(Source: Business Standard)