State explorer ONGC began drilling its first deepwater exploratory well in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin on 25 July 2026. India's Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri virtually spudded the well, named MN-DW18-1-H-D, from New Delhi.
The well sits about 23 nautical miles from ONGC's Konark discovery off the coast of Odisha. Spudding is the term for the start of drilling, the point where a rig first bores into the seabed. The well marks the start of the Government of India's Samudra Manthan campaign, an effort to explore the country's deep and ultra-deepwater energy resources.
MN-DW18-1-H-D builds on ONGC's recent Utkal and Konark discoveries, which strengthened the case for hydrocarbon potential in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin. To support this wider upstream exploration push, ONGC opened its Deepwater Exploration Mission Centre, called DeepX, in Mumbai on 5 January 2026. The center brings the company's geoscience and interpretation work together under what ONGC calls a "One Company, One Data" approach.
India's eastern and western offshore basins, which reach water depths of up to 3,000 meters, are estimated to hold more than 5,600 MMTOE of hydrocarbon potential. New Delhi has also opened nearly one million square kilometers of previously restricted offshore acreage for exploration, which it plans to offer through upcoming OALP rounds.
