From 46 Dry Wells To Guyana’s Oil Boom: Hardeep Puri Says Andaman Could Be India’s Energy Game-Changer

New Delhi: Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has pointed to the Andaman basin as a potentially significant frontier for India’s oil and gas exploration, drawing a comparison with Guyana’s experience of striking major hydrocarbon reserves after years of unsuccessful drilling.

Speaking at Republic summit about India’s efforts to reduce its dependence on imported crude oil, Puri said the government has substantially increased funding for deep-sea exploration and opened up previously restricted areas for exploration and production.

Puri said the government has made Rs 84,700 crore available for digging deep-sea wells, describing the scale of the allocation as unprecedented.

“No government anywhere in the world is doing what the Modi government has done”, Puri said, referring to the funding for deep-sea exploration.

Rs 84,700 Crore For 150 Deep-Sea Wells

According to Puri, the allocation of Rs 84,700 crore will provide for the drilling of around 150 deep-sea wells.

He highlighted the high cost of offshore exploration, saying a drilling rig can cost around $250,000 per day to lease. Puri said ONGC is currently getting three rigs, while Oil India is getting two, underlining the substantial investment required for deep-sea exploration.

He also put the approximate cost of drilling a single deep-sea well at $100 million.

Puri said the first well drilled by ONGC under the exploration programme had already encountered gas, pointing to it as an indication of the potential from India's expanded exploration push.

'If You Dig In Andaman, You Find Oil And Gas'

Puri specifically highlighted the Andaman basin, saying India could potentially find hydrocarbons across the region.

“I have always said that if in Andaman, whether you dig 18 km this way, you find oil and gas, you dig 20 km the other way, you find oil and gas”, Puri said.

He was speaking in the context of India's sedimentary basins and the government's efforts to expand the area available for exploration and production.

Puri said India's sedimentary basin covers about 3.5 million square km, while around 1 million square km had earlier been classified as a no-go area.

According to him, the government has now opened up that area for exploration and production.

Guyana Example: 46 Wells With No Luck, 47th Changed Everything

Puri drew a striking comparison with Guyana, which he said had drilled dozens of unsuccessful wells before making a major discovery.

“In Guyana, Arnab, you dug 45 wells, no luck. 46... 47, they struck gold”, Puri said, referring to the country's exploration history.

He said the discovery fundamentally changed Guyana's economic trajectory, suggesting that India's own exploration efforts could similarly yield major results if drilling continues across prospective basins.

The comparison formed the central argument in Puri's case for sustained investment in exploration: years of unsuccessful drilling do not necessarily mean a basin lacks commercially significant hydrocarbon reserves.

Government Opens Up More Areas For E&P

Puri also pointed to a combination of policy changes and financial support aimed at encouraging exploration.

He said the government has not only allocated funds for deep-sea drilling but has also introduced new legislation that he described as user-friendly for the exploration and production sector.

The opening up of the previously restricted areas, combined with regulatory changes and funding for exploration, is aimed at creating greater scope for domestic oil and gas production.

The push comes against the backdrop of India's high dependence on imported crude oil.

India’s High Crude Import Dependence

The discussion began with the question of why India's crude oil import dependence remains around 88-89%, despite the government's efforts to expand domestic exploration.

Puri's response focused on the scale of the exploration push now underway, particularly in deep-water and frontier areas.

The minister's comments suggest that the government sees increased domestic exploration as an important part of India's longer-term energy-security strategy, even as the country continues to rely heavily on imported crude.

India Energy Week To Showcase Energy Push

Puri also linked the exploration drive to the India Energy Week, which he said was launched in 2023 as an Indian platform for the global energy industry.

He said the event was conceived after India had been spending heavily to participate in international energy platforms, prompting the government to create a platform of its own.

According to Puri, the event has attracted participants from 120 countries.

He said the latest edition had already booked 17,000 square metres of exhibition space five months before the event, against a previous record of 24,000 square metres.

Puri described India Energy Week as the world's second-largest energy platform, noting that unlike platforms focused exclusively on oil and gas, the Indian event covers the wider energy ecosystem, including technology, startups, innovation and entrepreneurship.

From Import Dependence To Domestic Exploration

The government's exploration strategy comes at a time when India's energy security remains closely linked to developments in international oil markets and global supply routes.

Puri's broader argument is that expanding domestic exploration - particularly in deep-sea and frontier basins such as Andaman - could provide India with additional sources of oil and gas over the longer term.

His Guyana analogy underscores the uncertainty inherent in exploration: dozens of wells can fail before a single successful discovery transforms the outlook for an entire basin.

For India, the Rs 84,700-crore deep-sea exploration push, the opening of previously restricted areas, new legislation and increased drilling are aimed at giving the country more opportunities to make such discoveries.

Puri's Andaman pitch, therefore, is not that a Guyana-scale discovery has already been made there, but that India's unexplored and under-explored basins warrant sustained exploration - because, as the Guyana example shows, the breakthrough can come after years of drilling.

ALSO READ: 21 Assam Rifles Patrol Attacked Near Nampong During Fencing Work; 1 Jawan Killed, 4 Injured