Essar Energy Planning Shale Gas Development in India

Essar Energy is setting up plans to develop shale gas in India’s Gondwana region where it already has five coal bed methane blocks (CBM), according to Financial Chronicle newspaper.

The emphasis would be on simultaneous development of the CBM and the shale gas blocks, the newspaper reported.

“We expect to get couple of blocks for shale gas that government plans to announce for development by the private players in the Gondwana region out of the six regions identified by the government,” a company official told Financial Chronicle.

India is planning to devise a new gas price regime and the government will most likely announce a new gas price formula by September end, country’s oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently stated.

He said a decision will be taken keeping in mind the interest of investors and public and a new formula will be announced by September 30. Till then, the $4.2 per mmBtu price will continue.

Meanwhile, government has approved proposals of three coal bed methane (CBM) operators, which includes Essar, to charge prices equivalent to other domestic natural gas once a new gas price formula is approved, 

India has shale gas prospective reserves of around 2,100 tcf, out which recoverable reserves stand at around 96 tcf.