The Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has announced the identification of recoverable hydrocarbon reserves equivalent to 0.9 million tonne of oil at two exploration sites in North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts of West Bengal.

The discoveries were made during ongoing exploration by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, in a written response to BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya in the Rajya Sabha, clarified that no hydrocarbon discovery has been made at Ashok Nagar, where ONGC was also conducting exploration activities.

ONGC's active exploration sites include Kankpul I in North 24 Parganas and Ranaghat II in Nadia district. At Kankpul, drilling reached a depth of 2,730 mtrs., resulting in a confirmed gas discovery, with the appraisal phase set to continue until October. In Ranaghat, drilling went 2,719 mtrs. deep, also leading to a natural gas find, with the appraisal phase scheduled to run through 2027. Apart from these locations, ONGC is also conducting oil and gas exploration in South 24 Parganas, Murshidabad, and Burdwan, expanding its footprint in West Bengal’s potential energy reserves.