Bhubaneswar: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has discovered natural gas in a deepwater well in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, around 43 km off Konark on the Odisha coast, marking the first well drilled by the company in the basin under its ongoing Samudra Manthan deepwater exploration campaign.
The discovery was made on September 18 at the MN-DW18-1-H-D well, designated MDW-28, after the well encountered a gas-bearing zone between depths of 1,441 metres and 1,452 metres, ONGC said.
The well was spudded on July 25 using the drillship Platinum Explorer and was drilled to a target depth of 1,623 metres. Following evaluation of subsurface data, the well was perforated on September 18 and has since been flowing gas.
ONGC said the well is currently producing gas at an encouraging rate and has maintained healthy reservoir pressure. The company, however, cautioned that the discovery is yet to be established as commercially viable.
Further appraisal and commercial evaluation will be required to determine the size of the discovery, recoverable resources and its development potential, the company said.
The discovery’s location close to the Odisha coast could prove significant for future development if commercial viability is established. ONGC said the find, along with other discoveries in the area, could potentially be developed through shared infrastructure and facilities.
Such development could be facilitated by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025, which provide a framework for bringing deepwater resources into production through shared facilities.
The discovery comes as ONGC steps up exploration activity in India’s deepwater and ultra-deepwater basins as part of efforts to increase domestic oil and gas production and strengthen the country’s energy security.
Deepwater discoveries, however, generally require extensive appraisal, infrastructure and investment before commercial production can begin. For the Mahanadi Basin discovery, ONGC’s immediate focus will therefore be on evaluating the reservoir and estimating recoverable resources before taking a decision on development.
The company said the Mahanadi discovery could potentially become a candidate for development through shared facilities along with other discoveries in the area.
The exploration campaign was launched on July 25, 2026, by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri with the spudding of MDW-28 in the deep offshore Mahanadi Basin under the government’s Samudra Manthan initiative.
During operations, ONGC Chairman Arun Kumar Singh, Director (Technology & Field Services) Vikram Singh and Director (Exploration) O P Sinha visited the drillship and interacted with the crew, according to the company.
ONGC said it would continue exploration in deep and ultra-deepwater frontiers in its search for hydrocarbons and in line with India’s broader goal of enhancing energy security.
