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Shale Gas: Possibilities in India: Q4 2010
Infraline Energy, Dec 2010, Pages: 350
Natural gas has moved to the centre of the current debate on energy, security and climate. Natural gas fits in well with the targets to reduce carbon emissions because it causes lower carbon emissions than other fossil fuels. It can be seen as a bridge between oil and coal, and renewable fuels, and unconventional gas could indeed drive a transformation in the energy sector. Another important energy issue, is security of supply. If shale gas reserves proved to be wide and their extraction cost-effective, shale gas could really turn out to be a game changer. So far India’s relentless efforts during the last 25 years to build pipelines to bring gas from Turkmenistan, Iran, Qatar, Bangladesh and Myanmar have remained pipe dreams. Renewable energy sources like ethanol and bio diesel, wind and solar are high on the national agenda. Thanks to Indo-US nuclear pact, India may succeed in increasing the contribution of nuclear energy. But a recent phenomenon of shale gas — which has brought about seismic changes in the natural gas scene — has not been given the importance it deserves.
Energy economists all over the world have started to admire with awe the great achievement of oil companies in the US in developing shale gas resources on a large scale during the last decade. As recently as three years back conventional wisdom was that US will have a huge gas deficit and it has to import increasing quantity of LNG. In less than two years, the US supply has changed from one of deficit to surplus. Many Indian companies like Oil India, RIL, BPCL, HPCL and other are making a bee-line and have either started scouting or have acquired shale gas assets in foreign destinations like U.S and Australia.
The shale gas opportunity seems to have captivated all the leading oil & gas players in India. This frenzy has made India one of key countries chasing shale gas assets all across the globe. However, the question is that have we overlooked the opportunity that exist indigenously as in India, shale deposits are found across the Gangetic plain, Assam, Rajasthan and many coastal areas, but neither the government nor the corporate sector has carried out any exploration or estimation. ONGC is gearing up to drill India’s first shale gas exploration well early next month (September) at its Raniganj North CBM block in West Bengal. When most oil companies in Europe and the US are racing to master the technology of shale gas from those companies who have already succeeded in the US, India has just begun reading the fine prints of shale gas.
The sector is abuzz with activities around it with MoPNG making announcement that it would come out with a policy on shale gas exploration and production by as early as 2011, Australian explorer Oilex is planning a pilot well later this year or early 2011 at the Cambay block in Gujarat using advanced US technology for the extraction of shale gas. Gas shales are organic-rich shale formations. In terms of its chemical makeup, shale gas is typically a dry gas primarily composed of methane. Shale gas is natural gas trapped in shale, a sedimentary rock formed by the compaction of clay and other minerals. The gas is found throughout the shale layers, unlike oil or gas that are found trapped in reservoirs from which they can be easily extracted. In the case of shale gas, the rock itself is the reservoir and source of the gas. The technical problem is, therefore, how to drive out the gas from the shale and extract it. Three factors have contributed to its rapid development of US gas shales: advances in horizontal drilling, advances in hydraulic fracturing, and, perhaps most importantly, rapid increases in natural gas prices in the last several years as a result of significant supply and demand pressures. The primary differences between modern shale gas development and conventional natural gas development are the extensive uses of horizontal drilling and high-volume hydraulic fracturing.
While unconventional gas sources like gas shales reserves are plentiful, cost to produce is more than the conventional gas production of yesteryears. In this worldwide drive towards shale gas at a time when the tiger and the dragon wage a war towards security of energy, it is of interest to investigate how in future could shale gas reserves play a role in facilitating Indian energy markets. This document is a comprehensive study documented in well over 350 pages on the shale gas scenario in India. What the possibilities are? Where are they? What is the science and technology behind these developments? It answers all of these. A must reference for:
- Oil & Gas Companies
- EPC
- Consultants
- Government Bodies
- Planning Agencies
- E&P Equipment Providers
- Power Generators
- Fertilizer Companies
- Gas carriers
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