ONGC discovers gas in Bay of Bengal

ONGC discovers gas in Bay of Bengal

NEW DELHI: An offshore drilling operation by India's state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has discovered natural gas in the Bay of Bengal, a company spokesman said on Saturday.

"There is a gas find in the Krishna-Godavari basin," off the coast of southern Andhra Pradesh state, said company spokesman PK Dash.

"We are not talking about the reserves or other figures at this point of time. We will require a few weeks for ascertaining that.

A company official who declined to be named said the find was reasonably big.

The discovery is adjacent to a major natural gas field owned by India's biggest private firm, Reliance Industries, which found 11.9 trillion cubic feet of reserves three years ago.

Energy-hungry India has been scouting for oil and gas both at home and abroad to meet the needs of its fast-growing economy. India imports more than 70 percent of its oil requirements.-- AFP