India Must Find Major Oil, Gas Reserves Soon: Pankaj Jain

India​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌ might lose its appeal to be considered a hub for oil and gas exploration if it doesn’t come up with a substantial discovery in the near future, according to Pankaj Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

At the 15th Biennial International Conference and Exposition of the Society of Petroleum Geophysicists (SPG-India) 2025, held in Jaipur, Jain called for the immediate implementation of bold and time-bound exploration strategies that are in line with the National Deepwater Exploration Mission.

He mentioned that among the major legislative measures put in place by the government is the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act, 2025, which deregulated 99 percent of the offshore areas previously closed to exploration and bidding. The step, according to Jain, is intended to lure worldwide investors and speed up India's hydrocarbon hunt.

After Mumbai High in 1974 and the Krishna Godavari basin in the early 2000s, the question of where the next India oil and gas breakthrough would come from is louder than ever. The government has shifted gears to support the drilling campaign in the Andaman Sea in hopes of a "Guyana-like" discovery.

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Jain expressed the view that slow and steady would no longer be the way as the share of alternative energy sources in the global energy mix is on the rise. He suggested innovation, speed, and taking national responsibility as the ways to get energy self-sufficiency.

ONGC Chairman and CEO Arun Kumar Singh, in his speech, also concurred with the point and went on to say that seismic imaging, AI-driven interpretation, and data analytics advancements would be the enablers of India’s next wave of oil and gas exploration, deepwater drilling being the focus, as per the ​‍​‌‍​‍‌​‍​‌‍​‍‌company.