Join us for a hybrid lunch in August

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2025 

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Talk Title: The Deep-Water Andaman, Mahanadi, and Bengal Basins. Three Frontier Areas with Massive Exploration Potential on the East Coast of India. 

Speaker: David Hume, University of Houston 

Offshore India has historically been an unattractive destination for international companies. Consequently, high-value prospective basins were often ignored and mostly remain undrilled. Recently, changes to oil and gas policies and streamlined regulations have eliminated many restrictions that previously limited foreign investment.

Three of these basins are the Andaman, Mahanadi, and Bengal. The UH/DGH Center for Petroleum Exploration was established in May 2023 through a partnership with the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons of India. Its mandate is threefold.

1. To collect, clean, and categorize publicly available data for these basins. This includes over five terabytes of seismic data, well data, and reports accumulated over the past several decades by companies and government agencies.
2. Create a data room on the U of H campus for interested E&P companies to review the data.
3. Permit students and faculty to utilize the data for research on the petroleum potential of these basins.

The three basins are situated in two different geological settings. The Andaman Basin is located on the eastern Bay of Bengal, around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which fall under Indian jurisdiction. This basin lies along the boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates and experiences subduction and lateral tectonic movements. Consequently, it features a series of subbasins with thick sediment layers and complex structures that could contain large traps. Only 20 wells have been drilled across 660,000 km², resulting in just one minor discovery. However, in the past two years, Harbour Energy and Mubadala Petroleum made two significant gas discoveries at Timpan and Layaran in an extension of the Andaman Basin within Indonesian waters.

The Mahanadi and Bengal basins are passive margin basins along the northeastern coast of the Indian subcontinent near Bangladesh. These basins have a history of shallow water exploration, and two fields are currently being developed. Like the Andaman basin, the deep-water parts of these basins are almost entirely undrilled. In these regions, reservoirs consist of clastics and carbonates deposited in shallow to deep marine shelf and shelf-slope environments. Seismic imaging shows numerous channels, slope fans, and carbonate build-ups. Traps are both structural and stratigraphic. Recently, ONGC announced two deep-water gas discoveries in the Mahanadi Basin, located within Pliocene-aged channels.

Although these areas are traditionally seen as mainly gas-rich, recent research suggests they may also contain oil-rich, mature Cretaceous source rocks, especially in the Mahanadi Basin. With the size of the reservoirs and the possibility of both stratigraphic and structural traps, these basins could easily host the next supergiant deepwater discoveries globally. 

Biography:

David Hume is a Business Development Specialist and Geoscience Advisor, as well as a part-time faculty member at the University of Houston. He plays a key role in shaping the strategic direction of upstream energy and carbon capture projects. He has core skills in senior project management, establishing strategic partnerships, developing revenue-boosting strategies, and conducting applied research. His success comes from a collaborative approach that combines geoscience expertise with innovative business development practices.

As a former president of Integrated Reservoir Solutions at Core Lab and Vice President of Canadian Discovery, he has led and carried out hundreds of geological studies worldwide. His career focuses on a relentless pursuit of operational excellence and sustainable growth. Collaborative leadership and insightful geoscience advice have underpinned his achievements, leading to improved efficiency and a strong dedication to technological advancement. This mission continues to drive him to the forefront of the energy industry.

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Hybrid luncheon schedule:

• 11:15am: In-person check-in opens
• 11:30: Lunch service begins
• 12:00pm: Online event opens
• 12:15pm: Talk begins
• 1:00pm: Talk/Q&A session ends; Online event closes

Hybrid Luncheon costs:

• Member Lunch: $35
• Non-Member Lunch: $40
• Walk-in without Lunch: $15
• Member Online: $10
• Non-member Online: $20
• Student online: Free

Refund policy:

If you need to cancel an in-person lunch registration for any reason, you must do so by 4:00pm on the Thursday before the Wednesday luncheon. Refunds will not be available after 4:00pm on the Thursday before the luncheon. If you are unable to attend, your luncheon registration is transferable to another RMAG member, or if you are a non-member your registration is transferable to whomever you wish. Refunds will not be issued for online talk registrations.

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