(a) the names of river basins in the country from which oil is being explored at present
and proposed to be explored in future;
(b) the ground on which the exploration of oil from river basins;
(c) the names of river basins from which sufficient oil reserve have been found so far; and
(d) the time by which the exploration of oil reserve is likely to be started in the rest
of rivers?
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PETROLEUM & NATURAL GAS (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)
(a) Out of the 26 Sedimentary Basins in India, the major river basins under Oil & Gas
exploration are Ganga Valley, Assam Shelf, Assam-Arakan, Bengal, Mahanadi-NEC, Krishna
Godavari & Cauvery Basins on the East Coast & Kutch-Saurashtra, Cambay, Rajasthan, Mumbai
& Kerala-Konkan Basins on the West Coast. These basins are also extended in the Offshore
areas and cover large sedimentary areas which are presently under exploration.
(b) River basins are the areas, where more thickness of sediments in the past geological
ages is expected to have been deposited and these are the best locales for exploration of
Oil & Gas Deposits.
(c) The names of the river basins where Oil Reserves have been found are Assam-Arakan,
Krishna-Godavari, Cauvery, Cambay, Rajasthan and Mumbai offshore.
(d) In case of some Category IV Basins such as Spiti-Zanskar, Bhima-Kaladgi, Cuddaph,
Bastar and Chattisgarh, limited exploration works like Geochemical Samplings and Geological
Mappings have been carried out. In case of Deep/Ultra Deepwater Basins Kori-Comorin, 85º E
and Narcodam, no exploration activities have been carried out so far.
It is envisaged to award about 80% of the total Sedimentary Area of the Country for
exploration by the end of XI Plan Period.