New Delhi | Taking a crucial step towards tapping into India’s deepwater hydrocarbon resources, Shri Hardeep Singh Puri, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, virtually inaugurated ONGC’s exploratory well, MN-DW18-1-H-D, in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin on July 25, 2026.

This event signifies a substantial achievement under the Government of India’s Samudra Manthan Campaign, initiating an ambitious effort to investigate India’s deep and ultra-deepwater energy assets.

During his Independence Day speech on August 15, 2025, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi emphasized the need to exploit India’s unutilized offshore oil and gas resources. In alignment with this vision, the government has opened nearly one million square kilometers of previously restricted offshore regions, paving the way for new exploration ventures through upcoming OALP rounds.

India’s eastern and western offshore basins, which extend to depths of up to 3,000 meters, are believed to contain over 5,600 million metric tons of oil equivalent (MMTOE) in hydrocarbon potential. Recent successes in exploration within the Cauvery, Mahanadi, and Andaman basins have bolstered optimism regarding India’s offshore prospects.

To further this national endeavor, ONGC established its premier Deepwater Exploration Mission Centre, DeepX, in Mumbai on January 5, 2026. DeepX combines ONGC’s geoscientific knowledge, advanced analytical capabilities, targeted training, and strategic international partnerships under the philosophy of ‘One Company, One Data.’

Recent hydrocarbon discoveries in the Utkal and Konark regions have enhanced the prospectivity of the Mahanadi Offshore Basin. Building on these achievements, the MN-DW18-1-H-D well is being drilled approximately 23 nautical miles from Konark, off the coast of Odisha.