<p>India's state-owned Oil India Limited (OIL) formally announced a major natural gas discovery at the Sri Vijayapuram-3 exploratory. It was its second natural gas discovery offshore of Andaman Well on June 3. The first one, Vijayapuram-2, was discovered in September 2025. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced the discovery on Friday. The well is situated around 15 kilometres off the eastern coast of the Andaman Islands at a depth of 355 metres.&nbsp;</p><p>“An ocean of energy opportunities reinforced in the Andaman Sea! Very happy to report the presence of natural gas in Sri Vijayapuram-3, an exploratory well drilled by Oil India Ltd. &nbsp;15 km off the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 355 meters,” said Hardeep Puri in a statement on the social media platform X. Puri said that the testing conducted at more than 1900 m+ resulted in continuous flaring.&nbsp;</p><p>Two out of three exploratory wells in this specific block have now officially proven the existence of a functioning hydrocarbon system. The Vijayapuram-2 well breakthrough, which confirmed a clean energy pool featuring 87% methane content. This confirms the existence of hydrocarbons in the Andaman Basin.</p><p><strong>Also Read: </strong><a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/tova-noel-denies-orange-figure-jeffrey-epstein-jail-footage-1780741329354"><strong>Who is Tova Noel? Former Epstein guard denies being orange figure seen on staircase</strong></a></p><p>While the discovery is natural gas, there are expectations of oil based on geological modelling. India’s Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment Study (HRAS) estimates that hydrocarbon resources of 371 million Metric Tons of Oil Equivalent could be present in the Andaman Basin, which translates to roughly 2.7 billion barrels of combined oil and gas. However, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has suggested a directional estimate of 11.6 billion barrels.&nbsp;</p><p>“Under the Samudra Manthan Mission (National Deep Water Exploration Mission) announced by Hon’ble PM @narendramodi Ji on Independence Day 2025, a large number of deepwater &amp; ultra-deepwater exploration wells are planned in our offshore basins to fully exploit our hydrocarbon reserves,” read the post.&nbsp;</p><p>Geologically, the AN basin lies at the intersection of the Andaman and Nicobar Basins. The global interest in the basin rekindled following significant gas discoveries in the South Andaman offshore in Indonesia, highlighting geological continuity across this region.</p>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Congratulations <a href="https://x.com/OilIndiaLimited?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@OilIndiaLimited</a> !<br><br>An ocean of energy opportunities reinforced in the Andaman Sea! <br>Very happy to report the presence of natural gas in Sri Vijayapuram-3 an exploratory well drilled by Oil India Ltd. 15 km off the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water… <a href="https://t.co/j6QvWqZkFx">pic.twitter.com/j6QvWqZkFx</a></p>&mdash; Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) <a href="https://x.com/HardeepSPuri/status/2062844828522795427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 5, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Oil India has announced a major natural gas discovery at the Sri Vijayapuram-3 offshore well in the Andaman Sea, strengthening India's energy exploration efforts and confirming a functioning hydrocarbon system in the basin.

India's state-owned Oil India Limited (OIL) formally announced a major natural gas discovery at the Sri Vijayapuram-3 exploratory. It was its second natural gas discovery offshore of Andaman Well on June 3. The first one, Vijayapuram-2, was discovered in September 2025. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri announced the discovery on Friday. The well is situated around 15 kilometres off the eastern coast of the Andaman Islands at a depth of 355 metres. “An ocean of energy opportunities reinforced in the Andaman Sea! Very happy to report the presence of natural gas in Sri Vijayapuram-3, an exploratory well drilled by Oil India Ltd. 15 km off the east coast of the Andaman Islands at a water depth of 355 meters,” said Hardeep Puri in a statement on the social media platform X. Puri said that the testing conducted at more than 1900 m+ resulted in continuous flaring. Two out of three exploratory wells in this specific block have now officially proven the existence of a functioning hydrocarbon system. The Vijayapuram-2 well breakthrough, which confirmed a clean energy pool featuring 87% methane content. This confirms the existence of hydrocarbons in the Andaman Basin. Also Read: Who is Tova Noel? Former Epstein guard denies being orange figure seen on staircase While the discovery is natural gas, there are expectations of oil based on geological modelling. India’s Hydrocarbon Resource Assessment Study (HRAS) estimates that hydrocarbon resources of 371 million Metric Tons of Oil Equivalent could be present in the Andaman Basin, which translates to roughly 2.7 billion barrels of combined oil and gas. However, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has suggested a directional estimate of 11.6 billion barrels. “Under the Samudra Manthan Mission (National Deep Water Exploration Mission) announced by Hon’ble PM @narendramodi Ji on Independence Day 2025, a large number of deepwater & ultra-deepwater exploration wells are planned in our offshore basins to fully exploit our hydrocarbon reserves,” read the post. Geologically, the AN basin lies at the intersection of the Andaman and Nicobar Basins. The global interest in the basin rekindled following significant gas discoveries in the South Andaman offshore in Indonesia, highlighting geological continuity across this region.

<p>Oil India has announced a major natural gas discovery at the Sri Vijayapuram-3 offshore well in the Andaman Sea, strengthening India's energy exploration efforts and confirming a functioning hydrocarbon system in the basin.</p>

Hardeep Puri announces major natural gas discovery in Andaman Sea by Oil India

<p>A massive fire has engulfed a natural-gas producing well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in upper Assam's Tinsukia district, that has been leaking gas for the last 14 days.</p>

<p>Two firefighters who were engaged in controlling a blaze in Assam’s Baghjan were killed on Wednesday. Their bodies were found near the natural gas well that ignited on Tuesday.</p>

<p>The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) confirmed that the bodies of Durlov Gogoi, 30 and Bikeshwar Gohain, 56, were found from a pond near the well at Baghjan.</p>

<p>The oil well, part of Baghjan oil fields, had suffered damage after a blowout on May 27 and has been spewing gas since then.</p>

<p>Smoke from the fire&nbsp;can reportedly be seen from 10 km away and locals claim it has spread to nearby villages.</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> Massive fire at the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, Assam. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is present at the spot <a href="https://t.co/Tw2G92aPXy">pic.twitter.com/Tw2G92aPXy</a></p>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1270309788568571906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<p>Several fire tenders from Oil India Limited, ONGC, and Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts were rushed to the spot. A company spokesperson said while no casualty was reported in the incident, one ONGC employee suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.</p>

<p>The Indian Air Force and the Army are assisting in the firefighting operations, after the Sarbananda Sonowal government requested for help. The Air Force has sent three fire engines, and the Army has reached the area and is on stand-by. The area has been cordoned off by paramilitary forces.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Nearly 3,000 people from Baghjan were evacuated and at least one dolphin, one particolored flying squirrel and a variety of fish died as condensate — residue from gas condensing after coming in contact with water.</p>

<p>A statement from OIL said, ''While cleaning operations were on at the well site, the well caught fire. Fire tenders are at the site controlling the spread of fire.''</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">While the clearing operations were on at the well site, the well caught fire.There is no casualty reported. Fire tenders are at the site controlling the spread of fire. There r violent protests around the well site. Once the situation is normal, the experts will move to the site. <a href="https://t.co/HaCgLGeQtr">pic.twitter.com/HaCgLGeQtr</a></p>
— Oil India Limited (@OilIndiaLimited) <a href="https://twitter.com/OilIndiaLimited/status/1270357665747619840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<p>There were protests in the area as the fire broke out, threatening the lives and livelihood of the people already facing the impact of the blowout for the last two weeks amid the Covid-19 crisis.</p>


A massive fire has engulfed a natural-gas producing well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in upper Assam's Tinsukia district, that has been leaking gas for the last 14 days.

A massive fire has engulfed a natural-gas producing well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in upper Assam's Tinsukia district, that has been leaking gas for the last 14 days. Two firefighters who were engaged in controlling a blaze in Assam’s Baghjan were killed on Wednesday. Their bodies were found near the natural gas well that ignited on Tuesday. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) confirmed that the bodies of Durlov Gogoi, 30 and Bikeshwar Gohain, 56, were found from a pond near the well at Baghjan. The oil well, part of Baghjan oil fields, had suffered damage after a blowout on May 27 and has been spewing gas since then. Smoke from the fire can reportedly be seen from 10 km away and locals claim it has spread to nearby villages. #WATCH Massive fire at the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, Assam. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is present at the spot pic.twitter.com/Tw2G92aPXy — ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2020 × Several fire tenders from Oil India Limited, ONGC, and Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts were rushed to the spot. A company spokesperson said while no casualty was reported in the incident, one ONGC employee suffered minor injuries. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. The Indian Air Force and the Army are assisting in the firefighting operations, after the Sarbananda Sonowal government requested for help. The Air Force has sent three fire engines, and the Army has reached the area and is on stand-by. The area has been cordoned off by paramilitary forces. Nearly 3,000 people from Baghjan were evacuated and at least one dolphin, one particolored flying squirrel and a variety of fish died as condensate — residue from gas condensing after coming in contact with water. A statement from OIL said, ''While cleaning operations were on at the well site, the well caught fire. Fire tenders are at the site controlling the spread of fire.'' While the clearing operations were on at the well site, the well caught fire.There is no casualty reported. Fire tenders are at the site controlling the spread of fire. There r violent protests around the well site. Once the situation is normal, the experts will move to the site. pic.twitter.com/HaCgLGeQtr — Oil India Limited (@OilIndiaLimited) June 9, 2020 × There were protests in the area as the fire broke out, threatening the lives and livelihood of the people already facing the impact of the blowout for the last two weeks amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Massive fire engulfs OIL-owned well in Assam, two firefighters killed

<p>A massive explosion took place at the site of the blowout at a gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday.</p>

<p>After the explosion, the fire broke out in the gas well that has been spewing gas since May 27. The flames are visible from more than 2 kms away.&nbsp;</p>

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<p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WATCH</a> Massive fire at the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, Assam. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is present at the spot <a href="https://t.co/Tw2G92aPXy">pic.twitter.com/Tw2G92aPXy</a></p>
— ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1270309788568571906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
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<p>The Baghjan oil well in Tinsukia district has been leaking gas uncontrollably after a major blowout from the gas well on May 27.<br />
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<em>(With inputs from agencies)</em></p>


A massive explosion took place at the site of the blowout at a gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday. After the explosion, the fire broke out in the gas well that has been spewing gas since May 27.

A massive explosion took place at the site of the blowout at a gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) in Assam’s Tinsukia district on Tuesday. After the explosion, the fire broke out in the gas well that has been spewing gas since May 27. The flames are visible from more than 2 kms away. #WATCH Massive fire at the gas well of Oil India Ltd at Baghjan in Tinsukia district, Assam. A team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) is present at the spot pic.twitter.com/Tw2G92aPXy — ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2020 × The Baghjan oil well in Tinsukia district has been leaking gas uncontrollably after a major blowout from the gas well on May 27. (With inputs from agencies)

Massive fire at gas well of Oil India Limited in Assam's Tinsukia