Oil India finds natural gas in shallow-water Krishna-Godavari basin block

A previously unappraised formation off India’s east coast has yielded natural gas during testing by state-owned Oil India Ltd, with flows reaching a peak of 200,000 standard cubic metres per day, the company said on Friday.

The discovery was made in a shallow-water Krishna Godavari basin block that the firm had won in recent Discovered Small Field (DSF) bid rounds.

In the Godavari-1 appraisal well, the natural gas was found in the KG-DSF/GSKW/2018 shallow-water offshore block, where testing of a hydrocarbon-bearing zone at a depth of 2,024-2,027 metres began on October 16, 2026, OIL said.

The well has flowed gas at about 100,000 SCMD, with a maximum rate of 200,000 SCMD recorded during continuous testing. The company also reported condensate output of about 170 barrels per day.

Preparations are under way to test the next higher zone, OIL said without giving any assessment of the potential resource the discovery may hold.

The find adds to exploration activity in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, one of India's key offshore hydrocarbon-producing regions. The basin has been central to efforts to expand domestic gas supplies, with deepwater projects accounting for a significant share of the country's production growth in recent years.

The discovery could offer an additional source of domestic gas at a time when India remains reliant on imports to meet a substantial portion of its natural gas requirements.

The government has set a target of raising natural gas' share of India's energy mix to 15 per cent by 2030, from about 6 per cent currently, making the development of domestic resources an important part of its energy strategy.