India announces huge gas reserves in Andaman Sea amid geopolitical tussles over energy

In a major turn of events, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Friday that a significant natural gas occurrence has been reported in the Andaman Sea, which is seen as a major boost for India’s deepwater exploration.

On Friday, Puri took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share the news. In the post, he noted that the discovery came from the Sri Vijayapuram 2 well, located 17 km from the east coast of the Andaman Islands. The well is at a water depth of 295 meters and a target drilling depth of 2,650 meters.

Puri’s announcement came at a time when India is looking to diversify its energy portfolio to meet its energy demands, as Trump complains about New Delhi’s increasing purchase of Russian oil. The move also has the potential to make India self-reliant, since the country depends on imports to meet around 85 per cent of its energy demands.

An ocean of energy opportunities opens up in the Andaman Sea!
Very happy to report the occurrence of natural gas in Sri Vijayapuram 2 well at a distance of 9.20 NM (17 km) from the shoreline on the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 295 meters and target depth… pic.twitter.com/4VDeGtt8bt

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) September 26, 2025

Why it matters

In his post, Puri explained that the initial production testing between 2,212 and 2,250 meters confirmed the presence of natural gas, with intermittent flaring observed. Gas samples were brought to Kakinada, where it was tested and found to be 87 per cent methane.

“The size of the gas pool and commercial viability of the discovery will get verified in the coming months but establishing the presence of hydrocarbons in the Andaman basin is a major step in confirming our long held belief that Andaman basin is rich in natural gas, in line with discoveries in the entire area from Myanmar in North to Indonesia in the south in this belt,” Puri wrote in the Saturday post.

He also pointed out that the latest discovery aligns with the government’s deepwater mission, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The initiative aims to explore offshore hydrocarbon reserves through multiple deepwater wells.

“This occurrence of natural gas will help us in taking forward our exploration ambitions in coordination with global deepwater exploration experts like @petrobras, @bp_india, @Shell, @exxonmobil and will be a significant milestone in our journey through Amrit Kaal!” Puri concluded.