India eyes expansion of oil production after war shortage in Middle East | Today’s news

Import-dependent India, hit by its biggest energy supply shock in decades during the Middle East war, is expanding domestic oil production, its oil minister says.

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer and second-largest consumer of liquefied petroleum gas, faced major disruptions due to restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz during the conflict between the United States and Iran.

With an interim US-Iran deal to suspend hostilities, oil and gas supplies are once again flowing through the Persian Gulf waterways and restrictions and price hikes in India are being lifted.

Read also | OPEC wants to increase oil production by 188,000 Bpd in August

However, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the energy crisis has provided a new impetus for India’s domestic supply expansion.

“We are currently in the process… to offer about 250,000 square kilometers (96,500 square miles) of unexplored area,” Puri told AFP.

India is a modest producer on a global scale.

Domestic oil production in 2025-2026 was 25.98 million metric tons, according to the Ministry of Petroleum.

This covers just 10 percent of India’s oil needs, equivalent to roughly 522,000 barrels per day (bpd) — a figure well below its production peak of just over 900,000 bpd in 2011.

Read also | US-Iran war news LIVE: Iran probes oil sales to Japan – Report

India survived the energy crisis by expanding its oil suppliers from 27 to 41 countries, including Iran, Venezuela, larger purchases from Russia and several African countries.

New Delhi has previously been criticized by the United States and Europe for buying Russian oil, with critics saying it financed Moscow’s war against Kiev.

But Puri said India has a “pragmatic approach” that puts its energy needs above “ideological considerations”.

– “Ocean of energy opportunities” –

The country’s domestic oil production is concentrated in the west – in its offshore fields in Mumbai, Rajasthan and Gujarat – as well as in the northeastern state of Assam.

But Puri celebrated what he calls an “ocean of energy opportunity” off India’s Andaman and Nicobar archipelago, an 800-kilometer (500-mile) chain of ecologically sensitive islands in seas bordering Thailand and Indonesia.

The vast Andaman Basin is geologically similar to the hydrocarbon basins of Southeast Asia.

Read also | LPG price cut: Petroleum companies have cut the rate of commercial cylinders by ₹183.

In June, Puri posted a video on social media of a gas eruption in an exploratory well drilled in the Andaman Sea by state-owned Oil India.

“A large number of deep and ultra-deep exploration wells are planned in our offshore basins to fully exploit our hydrocarbon reserves,” Puri said as he released the video.

New Delhi is working with “deepwater exploration experts” including Petrobras, TotalEnergies, BP, Shell and ExxonMobil, he said.

In the same Andaman Sea, India is preparing the $9 billion Great Nicobar Island project to build a megaport, airport and city, creating a strategic base on what is for now a remote island covered in pristine forests and home to one of the most isolated nations on Earth.

– ‘Extremely Bullish’ –

This pressure precedes the war in the Middle East.

Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Samudra Manthan’ mission during his Independence Day speech in August 2025.

The name refers to a central event in Hindu mythology, meaning “the churning of the ocean”.

“We want to work in a mission mode to find oil and gas reserves under the sea, and that is why India is going to launch the National Deep Water Exploration Mission,” Modi said at the time.

Read also | Oil prices rise amid uncertainty over US-Iran talks; Brent crude at $73 a bar

However, India’s drive to reduce addiction faces challenges.

Domestic demand is growing rapidly in the world’s most populous country of 1.4 billion people – even as the government promises to achieve carbon neutrality by 2070.

India is also increasing investment in renewables, nuclear power and blending gasoline with ethanol.

“India’s energy consumption today is growing three times faster than the rest of the world,” Puri said.

“It jumped from five million barrels a day in 2021 to about 5.6 million barrels a day today and would soon touch six million barrels a day due to strong growth in the economy and per capita income.”

Puri said he is “extremely bullish” on the future.

“I am happy knowing that our EP (exploration & production) is going up and believe me it will go up very fast,” Puri said.

Read also | Oil prices fall on possible US-Iran talks; Brent nearly $72 a barrel

He noted that it was a “very capital-intensive and time-consuming” process, but said he had high hopes.

“We are putting fiscal resources into oil and gas production in a very big way – with a $10 billion program,” he added.

“This will take us into one million kilometers of unexplored territory.