Ministry informed about the occurrence of natural gas in the Sri Vijayapuram 2 well at 17 km from the shoreline on the east coast of the Andaman Islands.

• India’s Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment Study (HRAS) estimates hydrocarbon resources of 371 million Metric Tons of Oil Equivalent (MMTOE) in the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) Basin.
  • Geologically, the AN basin lies at the intersection of the Andaman and Nicobar Basins, part of the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system. 
  • Tectonic setting at the boundary of the Indian and Burmese plates have created numerous stratigraphic traps conducive to hydrocarbon accumulation.
  • Earlier, gas has been discovered in adjacent basins along North Sumatra (Indonesia) and Irrawaddy-Margui (Myanmar). 
• The discovery aligns with India’s vision of establishing a Gas Based Economy by 2030 and increasing share of natural gas in its primary energy basket to 15 percent by 2030.
  • Currently, India’s natural gas production meets only around 50% of its demand with rest demand being fulfilled through imports.
    • Qatar, US and UAE are major sources of India’s Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) imports.