Time of India: ONGC Hydrates Discovery May be 4 times Bigger than RIL's Gas Find

Flagship explorer ONGC has struck a gas reserve in the form of hydrates - otherwise known as 'fire ice' - off the Andhra coast that could turn out to be four times larger in terms of yield than Reliance Industries Ltd's discovery of 2002, India's biggest so far.

The discovery was made in August last year by the second exploratory expedition under the government's gas hydrate programme in collaboration with scientists from US and Japan, which have separately inked research MoUs with India.

The discovery validates the government's stress on finding alternative sources of energy and efforts to attract investments in the exploration business. It would also be a boost for PM Modi as he moves to promote a gas-based economy in tune with India's commitment to mitigate climate change. Irrespective of the cur rent depressed oil and gas price price scenario, which makes fresh investments unviable, the hydrates discovery would put India back in reckoning in terms of prospectivity. It would also return the spotlight on the eastern offshore, described as `India's gas bowl' and `India's North Sea' after Reliance's gas discovery. The region lost its glory in the aftermath of output falling from Reliance's field. MORE