Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Puri today announced that natural gas has been discovered at the Sri Vijayapuram-3 about 15 kilometres off the east coast of the Andaman Islands. In a social media post, Mr. Puri said, the discovery reinforces the vast energy potential of the Andaman Sea and marks another success in the ongoing exploration campaign in the basin. Mr Puri informed that the natural gas has been discovered at the water depth of 355 metres. He said that initial production testing carried out at a depth of over one thousand 900 metres has established the presence of natural gas through continuous flaring. The Minister informed that Oil India is currently undertaking gas sampling to assess the composition and calorific value of the gas. Mr Puri said that a large number of deepwater and Ultra deepwater exploration wells are planned in the offshore basins to fully exploit the country’s hydrocarbon reserves under the Samudra Manthan Mission.