PLANNING is under way for production testing as early as 2017 on at least one of the world-class gas hydrates accumulations discovered in the Bay of Bengal off India.

The large discoveries were made because of a partnership between the governments of India and Japan and US scientists.

Unconfirmed local sources have put initial reserves potential at these gas hydrates finds — located in blocks including D3, D6 and D9 — at 134 trillion cubic feet of gas.

The