New Delhi, Aug 17 (IANS) Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Sunday that India is powering its quest for energy security with a focus on strengthening and expanding energy infrastructure in the country.

For a growing India, real freedom means securing energy with its own resources for consumers, the minister said in a post on X.

Puri said that 67 million people refuel on India’s energy network every day, and the country is currently the third-largest energy consumer in the world.

He highlighted that 172 oil & gas discoveries have been made since 2015, unlocking self-sufficiency in the energy sector. These oil and gas discoveries include 62 in offshore areas. Puri had earlier emphasised the geological significance of the Andaman and Nicobar Basin.

The region has attracted renewed global interest following significant gas discoveries in South Andaman offshore Indonesia, underlining the geological continuity across the region, the minister said.

In a significant development, the ONGC and the Oil India Ltd (OIL) have launched an ambitious exploration campaign in the Andaman ultra-deepwater region. For the first time, drilling operations are targeting depths of up to 5,000 metres. One such wildcat well, ANDW-7, drilled in a carbonate play in the East Andaman Back Arc region, has yielded encouraging geological insights. These include traces of light crude and condensate in cutting samples, heavy hydrocarbons like C-5 neo-pentane in trip gases, the minister further stated.

These findings establish, for the first time, the existence of an active thermogenic petroleum system in the region, comparable to those in Myanmar and north Sumatra. While commercial reserves remain to be established, this campaign has validated the presence of a working petroleum system and laid the foundation for focused exploration in the area, the minister said.

Providing an overview of the exploration outcomes so far, the minister informed that the ONGC has made hydrocarbon discoveries in 20 blocks, with an estimated reserve of 75 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE). Oil India Ltd., on its part, has made seven oil and gas discoveries over the past four years, with reserves estimated at 9.8 million barrels of oil and 2,706.3 million standard cubic meters of gas.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision is driving India’s energy security through resilience with over $1.3 billion having been invested in the upstream segment to increase oil exploration and production,” Puri had said in Parliament recently.

The Petroleum Minister also highlighted that nearly 20 per cent ethanol blending with petrol has been achieved in 2025, a significant rise from 1.53 per cent in 2014. This accomplishment has resulted in Rs 1.4 lakh crore in foreign exchange savings, substitution of 238 lakh metric tonnes of crude oil, a reduction of 717 lakh metric tonnes in CO2 emissions, and direct payments of Rs 1.21 lakh crore to farmers.

Farmers have gained, as the sugar mills that are also producing ethanol can now afford to pay higher prices for sugarcane and clear pending dues in time.

–IANS

sps/vd