New Delhi, Aug 3: Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Sunday said that 172 hydrocarbon discoveries have been made over the past decade under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, including 62 in offshore areas.

Taking to social media platform X, the minister highlighted that exploration efforts are now being expanded into regions previously designated as "No-Go" zones—an initiative made possible by what he described as PM Modi’s bold and transformative policy decisions.

"Under the guidance of PM @narendramodi ji, 172 hydrocarbon discoveries have been made in the last decade, of which 62 are in marine areas. Now this figure will increase even faster because now we are going for exploration in those areas also, where exploration has never been done before. Which once came under 'No Go' areas," he said in a post in Hindi.

"Modi ji's bold decision on these no-go areas is giving a new height to exploration & production," Puri added.

Last week, the minister informed the Parliament that India is witnessing a renewed surge in oil and gas exploration with the opening of nearly one million square kilometres of erstwhile 'No-Go' offshore areas in 2022.

In a written response to a Rajya Sabha question, the minister stated that this action has opened up important exploration frontiers, particularly in deepwater and frontier areas like the Andaman-Nicobar (AN) offshore basin, and has played a key role in starting the current offshore activity momentum.

The minister emphasised the geological significance of the AN Basin, which is part of the Bengal-Arakan sedimentary system and sits where the Andaman and Nicobar Basins converge.

Numerous stratigraphic traps that are favourable to the accumulation of hydrocarbons have been created as a result of the tectonic setting at the border between the Indian and Burmese plates.

The basin's closeness to established petroleum systems in North Sumatra and Myanmar adds to its geological promise.

Following major gas discoveries in the South Andaman offshore Indonesia, the region has garnered renewed international attention, highlighting the region's geological continuity, the minister stated.

(IANS)

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