India on Brink of ‘Guyana-Sized’ Oil Discovery in Andaman Sea: India petroleum minister Hardeep Puri THE NEW INDIAN – india on brink of 20 trillion leap guyana sized oil discovery likely in andaman sea hardeep puri

NEW DELHI: In an exclusive Interview with The New Indian, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri laid out a bold vision…

NEW DELHI: In an exclusive Interview with The New Indian, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri laid out a bold vision for India’s energy independence, hinting that the country may be on the cusp of discovering a game-changing oil reserve in the Andaman Sea—comparable to the massive Guyana find by ExxonMobil. 

Speaking to Rohan Dua, Executive Editor, Puri highlighted key reforms in exploration policy, regulatory clarity through a new bill, and the growing seriousness of India’s energy sector in oil and gas exploration.

 “Only a Matter of Time Before We Find a Big Guyana in the Andaman Sea”

Reflecting on past progress and future prospects, Puri said:

“When I made this statement about the Krishna Godavari Basin, at that point in time, that was one place. Now we have found green shoots, oil, and several other places. And I think it’s only a matter of time before we find a big Guyana in the Andaman Sea. So that is ongoing.”

This bold prediction comes as India has ramped up exploratory drilling and significantly expanded its sedimentary basin coverage for private and public players.

From Dormancy to Drilling: The Turnaround Since 2016

Puri traced the policy shift to a post-2016 period of renewed intent and strategy:

“See, the point is that between 02/2016, we didn’t do anything. And then after that, we started changing policies. We moved from production sharing to revenue sharing arrangement.”

He added that under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), India had unlocked vast sedimentary basins:

“We opened up 1,000,000 square kilometers out of the 3,500,000 square kilometers of sedimentary basin… What was earlier a ‘no go area’, we opened that up.”

“37–38% of the bids in OALP Round 9 came in that 1 million square kilometers. I think about 80% of the bids which will come in the next round will come there.”

India’s current offering is the largest yet:

“We’ve opened up the largest bid ever—250,000 square kilometers in the round.”

The Cost of Oil Exploration—and the Reward

On the investment side, Puri pointed to global parallels and ONGC’s recent efforts:

“It costs a lot of money. In Guyana, they dug 43 or 44 wells, each costing $100 million. It’s on the 41st that they found it.”

“Here, ONGC this year has dug the maximum number of wells. Highest in 37 years”

In FY24, ONGC drilled 541 wells, the highest number in the past 34 years. This record-breaking number includes 103 exploratory wells and 438 development wells. The company invested around ₹37,000 crore on capital expenditure (capex) in FY24, achieving its highest-ever utilization. 

He acknowledged the traditional reluctance of leadership in oil marketing companies (OMCs) to invest in long-term exploration:

“If you are head of an outfit or a company for only six months, you’ll say, ‘Let me deploy the money and the profits of the quarter,’ rather than in drilling.”

But he sees this changing:

“Now things are changing, and I’m very confident that we’ll find many more oil fields. Very very quickly.”

New Oil Regulation Bill Brings Clarity, Private Sector Relief

Shifting focus to recent legislative reforms, Puri discussed the Oil Fields Regulation and Development Amendment Bill, which he tabled this year:

“The previous legislation, which is 1948 vintage, was covering both minerals, traditional minerals, coal and other minerals, and petroleum leases. It was covering everyone. So the concept confusion was [there].”

The new bill, he explained, resolves this overlap and aims to:

“Bring certainty, predictability… It also clarifies the newer fuels. And some of the practices that the executive could indulge in will not be possible anymore.”

The changes directly address long-standing concerns of the private sector:

“It rectifies that. It helps to solve the problems and also achieves the goals for those private companies in terms of no objection certificates, which they could not earlier.”

Crucially, the bill was developed in close coordination with the private sector:

“The bill has been brought after large-scale interaction with industry players… The rules and regulations that we are implementing under that are also subject to public consultation.”

From $3.7 Trillion to $20 Trillion?

The broader ambition is unmistakable. Puri envisions oil discoveries and regulatory ease leading to a quantum leap in India’s economy:

“Apart from these little discoveries which are coming, which could turn out to be very big also, that we find Guyana—and then you will go from a $3.7 trillion economy to a $20 trillion economy straight away.”

As India continues to dig deeper—both underground and into its regulatory framework—the signals from the top suggest that the energy sector may well be entering its most transformative decade.