NEW DELHI: Government is likely to finalise a year-wise plan soon for drilling, seismic surveys and rig deployment under Samudra Manthan, a Rs 84,084-crore national programme aimed at stepping up oil and gas exploration in India’s offshore basins and reducing dependence on energy imports.Officials said petroleum minister Hardeep Puri recently reviewed the action taken on decisions from two brainstorming sessions held in Gurgaon in Haryana and Duliajan in Assam, on the rollout of the scheme, which received Cabinet’s approval last month.The year-wise roadmap will help government carry out exploration and production activities in a concerted manner across Krishna-Godavari (KG), Mahanadi, Andaman and Cauvery basins and ensure systematic utilisation of funds, an official said.The scheme will fund acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic data, scientific drilling in frontier basins, accelerated exploration in deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks, and development of shared offshore production and evacuation infrastructure.While Rs 43,200 crore has been earmarked for drilling 60 exploratory deepwater wells over five years, Rs 28,534 crore has been allocated for acquisition of 2D and 3D seismic data, Rs 10,000 crore for common infrastructure hubs and Rs 2,000 crore for an oil and gas manufacturing and services zone.India’s annual crude oil requirement is around 256 million tonnes (MT), of which nearly 88 per cent is imported. Domestic crude oil production from 26 sedimentary basins is estimated at around 28 MT. With domestic output stagnating even as demand continues to rise, government has been looking to step up exploration to improve energy security and reduce import dependence.Samudra Manthan is expected to add more than 600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) to the country’s hydrocarbon reserves and boost domestic production of crude oil and natural gas.Officials said government has implemented a series of upstream sector reforms over the past decade, including opening up almost the entire offshore acreage for exploration, changes to legal and contractual framework, and strengthening National Data Repository. Samudra Manthan would complement these reforms by providing public funding for offshore exploration and facilitating the deployment of advanced technologies, they said.
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The scheme also includes dedicated provisions for digital programme management, capacity building, technology adoption, stakeholder engagement and international outreach, creating an integrated ecosystem to accelerate offshore exploration and production in the country.
