Union minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday inaugurated production from state-owned ONGC’s Asokenagar-1 well in the Bengal basin in the 24 Paragana district in West Bengal.

With the development, the Bengal Basin has joined the ranks of Krishna-Godavari (KG), Mumbai Offshore, Assam Shelf, Rajasthan, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan Fold Belt and Cambay.

Pradhan, while dedicating the Asokenagar discovery to the nation, said that the discovery would play a role for India’s energy security. He stated that the discovery would be definitely add to the government’s commitment towards reducing oil import dependence.

With the development, the Bengal Basin has joined the ranks of Krishna-Godavari (KG), Mumbai Offshore, Assam Shelf, Rajasthan, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan Fold Belt and Cambay

The ONGC statement said: “The well Asokenagar-1 has heralded the end of painstaking search for hydrocarbons in the region by ONGC by sending its first hydrocarbon consignment produced during well testing to IOCL’s Haldia Oil Refinery done earlier on 5 November 2020.”

Production from the petroleum reserve, located 47 km from Kolkata, has started with the extracted oil being supplied to Indian Oil Corporation’s Haldia refinery, according to the minister.

Till now, ONGC has invested Rs 3,361 crore to explore hydrocarbon in the Bengal Basin. More Rs 425 crore will be spent on exploration activities in the basin in the coming two years.