CORPORATE
ONGC launches deep-water exploration campaign Samudra Manthan in Mahanadi basin
- IBJ Bureau
- Jul 26, 2026
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has commenced drilling its first deep-water exploratory well in the Mahanadi offshore basin.
This marks the start of an ambitious campaign to tap India’s deep and ultra-deep-water hydrocarbon resources.
State-owned ONGC has spudded exploratory well MN-DW18-1-H-D under the government’s Samudra Manthan mission, the company has said in a statement.
The well is being drilled around 23 nautical miles from the Konark discovery off the Odisha coast, building on the corporation’s recent Utkal and Konark discoveries that have strengthened the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Mahanadi Offshore Basin.
The drilling campaign forms a part of the push to accelerate exploration of India’s offshore oil and gas reserves.
In his Independence Day address on August 15, 2025, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for harnessing the country’s untapped offshore hydrocarbon potential.
In line with that vision, the government has opened nearly 1 million sq km of previously restricted offshore areas for exploration, paving the way for fresh acreage to be offered under upcoming rounds of the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).
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 metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) of hydrocarbon resources.
Report By
View Reporter News