ONGC assessed the find at four trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, but was still awaiting independent audit confirmation of that figure, Raha told Indian television this week.

Earlier, ONGC had said it had made the find as part of its on-going ‘Sagar Samriddhi’ deepwater exploration campaign in the Krishna-Godavari Basin, 30km from the Amalapuram coast and about 75km from the port of Kakinada.

Multiple levels of gas-bearing sands had been identified between 1962m-2182m, with an estimated pay thickness of 42m within a 9sqkm structure. The presence of gas had been confirmed through log evaluation and wireline testing. Conventional testing was still in progress.

Raha also said ONGC was looking at Russia, South Korea and Japan for marketing its share of oil and gas from the East Russian Sakhalin I development, first oil from which should start flowing by the end of this year. ONGC also had gained Indian government approval to bid for participation on the Sakhalin III project.

ONGC was proposing to invest up to US$20 billion dollars in various projects in Russia and considering a partial sharemarket float, though it would retain managerial control.