India’s state-owned oil exploration companies, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL) are set to launch a stratigraphic drilling campaign valued at Rs320bn ($385.5m) in early 2026, mainly in unexplored offshore regions. 

This initiative aims to assess new hydrocarbon reserves and reduce import dependence, reported PTI.  

The first phase will involve four deep-sea wells drilled in the Andaman, Mahanadi, Saurashtra and Bengal sedimentary basins. 

Global energy company bp will provide technical expertise in site identification and drilling. 

Stratigraphic drilling focuses on studying underground geological formations rather than producing oil or gas.  

The wells are intended to collect data on subsurface layers via coring, petrophysical logging and seismic data integration to support future hydrocarbon exploration. 

The government has agreed to compensate ONGC and OIL for the cost of the stratigraphic drilling campaign, which includes a fee for bp's services.  

An official said: "It is entirely possible that they demand a first right of refusal in any development.”  

India meets nearly 88% of its oil demand and around half of its natural gas requirements through imports, totalling an estimated $150bn, reported Business Standard. 

To enhance energy security, the government has reduced 'no-go' zones, previously restricted for defence and space reasons, by 99%, opening more than one million square kilometres of India's ‘exclusive economic zone’ for exploration. 

In 2022, India launched a data centre at the University of Houston, US, to showcase its sedimentary basin data and upgraded the National Data Repository to a cloud-based platform for seamless data access. 

In March, amendments were made to the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act to implement reforms and provide greater clarity in India's hydrocarbon sector.  

The significant changes introduced include a unified permit system for both conventional and unconventional resources, defined lease tenures and protection against policy changes during the lease term. 

Officials noted that drilling and analysis of a stratigraphic well can take up to three months, with full interpretation of results likely within three to four quarters.