India Should Focus on CBM, Not Shale

New Delhi based Energy and Resources Institute (Teri), has suggested that India should focus on developing coal bed methane resources rather that shale gas.

In a report titled Shale Gas in India: Look Before You Leap, Teri has said that the biggest challenge in shale gas development process that the country faces is in the quantity of water that is used in the extraction process.

“One of the key determinants of the viability of this technology is the availability of large quantities of clean water. This policy brief raises a red flag on this complementary input for exploiting shale gas resources in India, given that India is a water stressed country, and is fast approaching water scarcity conditions,” the report said.

Instead of further endangering the scarce water resources in the country, the report suggests that India should remove bottlenecks in CBM exploration and production while safeguarding environment.

The report also said that efforts should be made to exploit gas hydrates as prescribed by the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons. The report also said that exploration of conventional gas should also be encouraged through investor friendly policies by reducing their risks and allowing market driven prices.

Some other measures that the country could take to augment supply of gas would be acquisition of gas equity abroad and continuation of LNG import from the Middle East, US and Australia.