New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS): Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) has commenced oil production from the Asokenagar-1 well, Bengal Basin in West Bengal's 24 Paragana districts.

In a statement, the public sector energy major said that Union Petroleum & Natural Gas Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan on Sunday dedicated the Bengal Basin, the eight producing basin of India to the nation.

With the development, the Bengal Basin has joined the ranks of Krishna-Godavari (KG), Mumbai Offshore, Assam Shelf, Rajasthan, Cauvery, Assam-Arakan Fold Belt and Cambay.

Pradhan, while dedicating the Asokenagar discovery to the nation, said that the discovery would play a role for India's energy security. He stated that the discovery would be definitely add to the government's commitment towards reducing oil import dependence.

The ONGC statement said: "The well Asokenagar-1 has heralded the end of painstaking search for hydrocarbons in the region by ONGC by sending its first hydrocarbon consignment produced during well testing to IOCL's Haldia Oil Refinery done earlier on 5 November 2020."

Till now, ONGC has invested Rs 3,361 crore to explore hydrocarbon in the Bengal Basin. More Rs 425 crore will be spent on exploration activities in the basin in the coming two years.