Could ONGC’s Mahanadi Gas find boost India’s energy supply?

ONGC has found natural gas deep under the seabed, around 43 km off the Odisha coast, giving India another potential source of domestically produced gas.

What’s cooking underwater: the discovery was made in ONGC’s first well drilled in the Mahanadi Basin under its current Samudra Manthan deepwater exploration campaign.

The well was drilled to a depth of 1,623 metres, with gas found between roughly 1,441 and 1,452 metres. After the well was opened for testing on September 18, gas continued to flow for three days with what ONGC described as encouraging flow and reservoir pressure.

But this does not mean ONGC can start selling this gas tomorrow.

Think of the discovery as finding water while digging a well. Finding water is step one. You still need to know how much water is there, how quickly you can extract it and whether doing so is worth the cost.

There is one advantage here: the discovery is relatively close to the Odisha coast. ONGC says this could make it easier to bring the gas into production if the reservoir eventually proves commercially viable.

Why does the Mahanadi Basin matter: the Mahanadi Basin stretches from the Mahanadi river delta into the Bay of Bengal. Over millions of years, layers of sediment accumulated here, creating geological formations where oil and natural gas can potentially get trapped.

Much of this potential sits offshore, which means companies have to drill deep below the sea to find it. That makes exploration expensive, technically difficult and risky.

But the region is increasingly important. The government specifically identifies the Mahanadi Basin as one of India’s promising offshore areas, and notes that expensive infrastructure has prevented some discoveries in Mahanadi and Kutch from being developed.

Zoom out: the company is also stepping up investment to get more oil and gas out of the ground. Last month, the company said it plans to spend more than ₹30,000 crore this year, with exploration and improving production from its existing fields among its key priorities.

A big focus is on ONGC’s older oil and gas fields, where production becomes harder as the fields age. To help squeeze more output from these assets, ONGC has brought in global energy major BP for technical expertise, while keeping ownership and operational control of the fields.

The company is also investing beyond traditional oil and gas, as it looks to build a broader energy business and expand into green and new-energy projects.

Big theme: the discovery fits into a much bigger government push to look for oil and gas beneath India’s seas.

In July, the government approved Samudra Manthan, a ₹84,084 crore National Offshore Exploration Scheme running through FY31. A major part of the programme is drilling 60 deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration wells, alongside better seismic mapping and shared offshore infrastructure.