Oil India announces natural gas discovery in Andaman Shallow OAshore Block

Oil India (OIL) announced the presence of natural gas in its 3rd exploratory well Vijayapuram-3 (Loc. OAEB), drilled 15 km oA the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 355 meters in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1 under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP). OIL now establishes presence of hydrocarbon in 2 (two) wells out of 3 (three) exploratory wells drilled so far. Occurrence of natural gas was reported in 2nd exploratory well Vijayapuram-2 (Loc. OAEA) on 26 September 2025.

Initial production testing of the well at the depth of 1900 plus meters in the Eocene formation has established the presence of natural gas through continuous flaring. Post perforation, immediate pressure build up was observed and well started to produce. Further gas sampling is being undertaken to assess the composition & calorific value of gas and to carry out isotope studies to understand the genesis of the gas. As per preliminary assessment, this is a leading indicator of presence of source or migration pathway or accumulation of hydrocarbon in current prospect, which will help in strategizing future exploratory program.

Pursuant to reported occurrence of gas in 2nd exploratory well Vijayapuram-2 (Loc. OAEA) on 26 September 2025, Oil India has already started the appraisal program. Reprocessing of available 2D seismic data and acquisition of additional 600 Sq. Km of 3D seismic data is already completed and processing of acquired and vintage 3D seismic data is ongoing. Post processing and interpretation of the seismic data, the appraisal Well (s) drilling is planned to be undertaken.