Bhubaneswar: State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has discovered natural gas in a deepwater well in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin, around 43 km off Konark on Odisha's coast, the company said on Monday.

The discovery was made on September 18 at the MN-DW18-1-H-D well as part of ONGC's Samudra Manthan deepwater exploration campaign. It is the first well drilled by the company in the Mahanadi Basin under the campaign.

According to ONGC, the well encountered gas between depths of 1,441 metres and 1,452 metres. The well was drilled to a target depth of 1,623 metres after being spudded on July 25 using the drillship Platinum Explorer.

The company said the well has been flowing gas for the past three days, with encouraging flow and reservoir pressure.

However, the discovery is yet to be established as commercially viable. ONGC said further appraisal and commercial evaluation will be required to determine the size of the discovery, recoverable resources and its development potential.

The discovery's proximity to the Odisha coast could help speed up development if commercial viability is confirmed, according to the company. ONGC said the find, along with other discoveries in the area, could potentially be developed using shared infrastructure and facilities.

Such an approach could be supported by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 2025, which provide a framework for bringing deepwater resources in the area into production through shared infrastructure.

The gas find comes as ONGC steps up exploration in India's deepwater basins. The company is seeking to expand domestic oil and gas production as India works to reduce its dependence on imported hydrocarbons.

Deepwater discoveries, however, typically require substantial investment in appraisal, infrastructure and development before commercial production can begin. For the Mahanadi Basin find, ONGC's immediate focus will be on evaluating the reservoir and estimating recoverable resources before taking a decision on development.