Indian state-run company makes record gas find

AHMEDABAD, India, Monday (AFP) - An Indian state-run energy company has made the country's biggest gas discovery, an offshore bubble big enough to double the country's gas production, a state government minister said.

The find made early this month by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) was estimated at 20 trillion cubic feet and to be worth about 50 billion dollars, said Gujarat's chief minister, Narendra Modi.

The discovery was made below the seafloor off India's southeastern coast, in the Krishna Godavari basin off the Kakinada coast of Andhra Pradesh state, he said, speaking in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

The find "promises to double the gas production of the country and also have an impact internationally," Modi said.

"The GSPC team of experts detected gas ... after intensive drilling up to 5,061 metres (more than 16,600 feet) into the seabed at a temperature of 400 degrees Fahrenheit (204 degrees Celsius)," Modi said.

"This is a major achievement for us that was accomplished in 300 days of non-stop exploration work," he said. "Now that the reserve has been unearthed, GSPC will focus on how to prepare the gas reserve for commercial production."