On March 29, 2026, a quiet but consequential event unfolded roughly 180 kilometres off the coast of Mumbai: gas began flowing from Platform B-12-24P, part of ONGC’s Daman Upside Development Project (DUDP), deep in the Arabian Sea. The gas has since been piped to ONGC’s Hazira processing facility in Gujarat, marking the official start of commercial monetisation from a field that cost nearly a billion dollars to develop.
This milestone marks the commencement of gas monetisation from the DUDP Project — achieved through strong project execution, innovative use of the Drill-Deck, and strong performance by drilling and production teams.
The project, located about 80 km south of Pipavav in Gujarat, was completed in under two years from the date of award a timeline that ONGC itself called a testament to execution capability in complex offshore environments. The DUDP involves four new wellhead platforms connected via 140 km of subsea pipelines, with a peak production target of 5 million standard cubic metres per day. Over its lifetime, the field is projected to yield 21.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas.
The timing could not be more strategically significant. India currently imports close to half of its natural gas requirements, and global supply routes – particularly through the Strait of Hormuz – have grown increasingly precarious amid ongoing Middle East tensions. If the Daman field reaches peak output, analysts estimate it could cover over 60% of India’s annual gas imports at current levels, representing a major structural shift in the country’s energy balance.
Production from all wells will be ramped up in phases. Meanwhile, ONGC is looking beyond the Arabian Sea, the company has signed a resource-sharing agreement with Reliance Industries for deep-water operations in the Krishna Godavari basin and Andaman offshore on the east coast, and is eyeing exploration in the Mahanadi and Cauvery basins as well. For a country working to close a stubborn energy gap, the gas now flowing from the Daman field is a start, but only that.
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