Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], September 27 (ANI): Oil India Limited (OIL), a Maharatna PSU under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has announced the occurrence of natural gas in its second exploratory well Vijayapuram-2 (Loc. OAEA), drilled in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1 under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), an official press release said.

In an official statement released on Friday, the company confirmed that gas samples collected during intermittent inflow as part of initial production testing have indicated the presence of natural gas.

'Oil India Limited (OIL), a Maharatna Company under the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, is pleased to announce the reported occurrence of natural gas in its 2nd exploratory well Vijayapuram-2 (Loc. OAEA), drilled in the Offshore Andaman Block AN-OSHP-2018/1 under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP),' the release stated.

The preliminary analysis of gas samples collected during intermittent inflow of gas as part of initial production testing has confirmed the presence of Natural Gas. Further gas isotope studies are being undertaken to understand the genesis of the gas. According to a preliminary assessment, this could be a leading indicator of the presence of a source, migration pathway, or accumulation of hydrocarbons, which will aid in future Exploration and Drilling Strategy.

Oil India is also conducting additional testing of higher-up prospects in the well to further evaluate the nature and extent of the reported gas occurrence.

Given that this is the first reported occurrence of hydrocarbon during the ongoing exploration campaign in the Andaman Shallow Offshore Block, we wish to keep our valued stakeholders informed. (ANI)