Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has reassured the country that India will not face a shortage of crude oil despite mounting global tensions, especially the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict, which has shaken global energy markets. He also predicted stability in fuel prices on the basis of India’s restrained pricing policy and aggressive energy exploration activities.
Puri’s statement comes at a time when fears of supply disruption and rising global commodity prices are growing, especially with Iran being one of the world’s key crude producers. The potential for price spikes has raised concerns about inflation and a widening trade deficit for oil-importing countries like India.
“I can assure you there won’t be a lack of crude oil. In fact, the prices have not increased in the past three years—prices have decreased,” stated Puri. “We lowered fuel prices in November 2021, May 2022, and March 2024. India does not believe in recurrent fuel price increases. I expect stability in the future.”
In a strategic effort to increase domestic energy production, Puri highlighted India’s exploration activities in previously untapped areas—chiefly the Andaman sedimentary basin, which he stated could be India’s ‘Guyana moment’, as a reference to the huge oil discoveries made by South America’s Guyana in recent years.
India possesses more than 3.5 million sq km of sedimentary basins, yet only 8% of it has been explored till date. Under the present administration, earlier restricted “no-go” areas—covering almost 1 million sq km—have been opened up for exploration and production.
“In recent bids of the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP), 38% were for these areas opened up recently. In the next round, we anticipate over 75%,” added Puri.
He also revealed finds from recent exploration efforts:
Suryamani well: Estimated 4 million metric tons of oil equivalent.
Neelmani well: 1.2 million metric tons of potential.
A third well at 2,865 metres depth found both oil and gas reserves.