OIL India Limited Drills Tripura’s First Hydrocarbon Well Under HELP Regime

Agartala: For the first time in Tripura, oil exploration has taken a definitive leap as Oil India Limited (OIL) spudded the well on the Debtamura (or Devtamura) hill which is named as Debtamura#1, on May 11, 2025, marking a historic milestone in the state’s journey towards industrial and energy development. Located at Loc. TUL-B of DSF Block AA/ONDSF/TULAMARA/2018, the site lies deep within the Baramura-Debtamura Reserve Forest in Gomati district, around 120 km from Agartala and close to the Indo-Bangladesh international border.

According to the OIL officials, this is the first hydrocarbon well ever drilled in Tripura under the Government of India’s Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) regime — a flagship energy reform aimed at enhancing domestic oil and gas production.

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Several senior officials attended the ceremonial spudding of the well in Debtamura, including Resident Chief Executive of OIL Rupjyoti Phukan, Advisor (Security), Directorate General of Hydrocarbons Major General (Retd.) Praveen Mathur, Joint Director of the Directorate of Industries and Commerce, Government of Tripura, Sutirtha Paul, Executive Director and Head of Frontier Basin Project, OIL Chitra Mohan Borah, Chief General Manager (Frontier Basin), OIL Arunav Baruah, and General Manager, GAIL Pankaj Kumar Biswas. Other senior officials from OIL were also present at the site.

It is learned that the DSF Block — awarded to OIL in DSF Round II bidding in 2019 — spans 47.23 square kilometres and was previously part of a Petroleum Mining Lease (PML) operated by ONGC. Following the signing of the Revenue Sharing Contract (RSC) on March 7, 2019, and the granting of the Petroleum Mining Lease by the Government of Tripura on November 14, 2019, OIL officially began exploration work in the region. This block includes a mix of forested terrain, low-density villages, and hilly landscapes, making it one of the more logistically challenging areas for hydrocarbon drilling in the country.

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The Debtamura site is particularly rugged, surrounded by undulated terrain, thick forest vegetation, narrow hill roads with hairpin curves, and prone to seasonal monsoons and landslides. Construction of approach roads alone required significant civil work across forest areas. Despite these hurdles, OIL has completed civil surveys at four drilling locations: TULA, TULB, TULC, and TULD, in line with its contractual commitment to drill at least four appraisal or development wells.

According to the project summary, gas was discovered in the nearby well Tulamara, drilled by ONGC in 2008. Based on seismic data and earlier drilling evidence, Debtamura is expected to offer promising results in both oil and gas recovery. A pipeline evacuation plan covering approximately 40 km has also been designed to transport extracted hydrocarbons to production facilities, potentially creating a backbone for Tripura’s hydrocarbon infrastructure.

OIL’s entry into Tripura is part of its wider expansion strategy in Northeast India. The company, a Government of India Navaratna enterprise, has traditionally operated in Upper Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram, and has now formally extended its reach into Tripura under the DSF/OALP regime.

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Officials say this event reflects not only a technological breakthrough but also a symbol of Tripura’s growing importance in India’s energy self-reliance vision — Atmanirbhar Bharat. It is also expected to generate local employment, infrastructure development, and new industrial linkages in South Tripura and Gomati districts.