ONGC Strikes Gas in Mahanadi Offshore Under Samudra Manthan

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has made gas discovery in the deepwater basin of Mahanadi in Odisha, which is the first-ever discovery from a well drilled by the company in line with its Samudra Manthan programme. ONGC declared the discovery on September 18 through the well named MN-DW18-1-H-D. This well has been drilled to the targeted depth of 1,623 metres with gas presence found in between 1,441 metres and 1,452 metres. Encouraging gas flow was found during the initial tests along with reservoir pressure.

Important Features of ONGC Gas Discovery

Feature	Description
Company	ONGC
Basin	Mahanadi Offshore Basin
State	Odisha
Well	MN-DW18-1-H-D
Discovery Date	September 18, 2026
Target depth	1,623 metres
Gas-bearing interval	1,441-1,452 metres
Distance from coast	Approximately 43 km from Konark coast
Programme	Samudra Manthan

The well is situated only 23 nautical miles away from ONGC’s Konark discovery site.

What Is Samudra Manthan?

To promote exploration in India’s offshore regions, the Samudra Manthan, an initiative worth ₹84,000 crores, was introduced in July 2026 by the government. The Samudra Manthan will help in minimizing costs and risks in drilling as well as encouraging domestic oil and gas exploration.

The ONGC well spudded on July 25 when Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri remotely launched the exploration process in New Delhi.

Why Is the Mahanadi Discover Important?

The discovery boosts exploration efforts in the Mahanadi offshore basin, a place that has received much interest owing to previous discoveries of ONGC like Utkal and Konark.

According to ONGC, the recent discovery could potentially be commercially exploited under PNG Rules, 2025, provided that the evaluation shows there is a sufficient amount of resources for recovery.

The company is increasing its deepwater and ultra-deepwater exploration program as India tries to boost its hydrocarbon production domestically and cut down its dependency on foreign oil and gas imports.

India’s Potential for Hydrocarbons Offshore

As per ONGC, the country’s eastern and western offshore basins, reaching a maximum depth of 3,000 metres below the seabed, contain more than 5,600 million tonnes of oil equivalent of hydrocarbons.

The most recent discovery is currently under appraisal. ONGC has stated that there is a need to assess the reservoir quality, resource availability and economic feasibility before making any decision regarding development.