Shale Gas: Possibilities in India: Q4 2010

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

1. Preamble

2. Shale - a sedimentary rock and Repository of Organic material
2.1 Geologic Characteristics
2.2 Black Shales
2.3 Depositional Environments of Shales
2.4 Relativity of factors in deposition
2.5 Zones of diagenesis
2.6 Relativity of factors in diagenesis
2.7 Conclusion

3. Shale Gas – Its Generation & Accumulation
3.1 Introduction to gas shales
3.2 Unconventional Gas Reservoirs 3.3 The Resource Triangle
3.4 The Hydrocarbon Source
3.5 Kerogen Maturity

4. Micropore to Well Head
4.1 Gauging shale gas reservoirs
4.2 Shale Gas Exploration & Production
4.3 Building Shale Gas Wells
4.4 Shale Stimulation

5. Geological setup of Indian Sub Continent
5.1 Indian Subcontinent – its evolution
5.2 Major Rock Groups
5.3 Summary of geologic domains and hydrocarbon potential

6. Sedimentary Basins in India – Basin Evolution & Stratigraphy
6.1 Overview of Sedimentary Basins
6.2 Cambay Basin
6.3 Assam Arakan Basin
6.4 Mumbai Offshore Basin
6.5 Krishna-Godavari Basin
6.6 Cauvery Basin
6.7 Rajasthan Basin
6.8 Kutch Basin
6.9 Mahanadi-NEC Basin
6.10 Andaman-Nicobar Basin
6.11 Himalayan Foreland Basin
6.12 Ganga Valley Basin
6.13 Vindhyan Basin
6.14 Saurashtra Basin
6.15 Kerala-Konkan-Lakshadweep Basin
6.16 Bengal Basin
6.17 Karewa Basin
6.18 Spiti Zanskar Basin
6.19 Satpura Basin
6.20 Deccan Syneclise Basin
6.21 Bhima-Kaladgi Basin
6.22 Cuddapah Basin
6.23 Pranhita Godavari Basin
6.24 Chhattisgarh Basin

7. Potential Shale Gas Basins in India
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Cambay Basin
7.3 Assam Arakan Basin
7.4 Vindhyan Basin
7.5 Cauvery Basin
7.6 Gondwana Basins (South Rewa, Chhattisgarh and Pranhita-Godavari Basin)
7.7 Bengal Basin

8. Shale Gas Economic Models

9. Shale Gas Plays in the USA
9.1 Introduction
9.2 The Barnett Shale
9.3 The Fayetteville Shale
9.4 The Haynesville Shale
9.5 The Marcellus Shale
9.6 The Woodford Shale
9.7 The Antrim Shale
9.8 The New Albany Shale
9.9 Eagleford Shale
9.10 The US Shale Gas Growth

10. The Shale Gas Conundrum
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Natural Gas – Energy in the foreseeable future
10.3 Regional gas supply potential
10.4 The big gas importers and their demands
10.5 Growth of Global Gas Supply
10.6 The state of natural gas
10.7 Future of World Gas Markets
10.8 Gas Shales and US gas Markets
10.9 Gas shale potential
10.10 Markets & Geopolitics

11. Natural Gas Scenario in India
11.1 Dynamics of Natural Gas Markets
11.2 Indian Natural Gas Markets
11.3 Modeling Methodology
11.4 Electricity Sector Demand
11.5 Fertilizer Sector Demand
11.6 Industrial Gas Demand
11.7 Implications of total gas demand
11.8 Implications of total gas demand
11.9 Conclusive Findings

12. Initiatives for Shale Gas Exploration by India
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Forays by Private Indian E & P Companies and PSUs
12.3 Forays by Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoPNG), Govt. of India

13. Environmental Impact Assessment and Considerations

14. An overview of E & P Industry in India
14.1 Overview of E&P Companies in India
14.2 PEL & ML Status in India
14.3 Unconventional Gas Development and Flexibility

Order Online - visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/1582661

Order by Fax - using the order form below

Order By Post - print the order form below and send to

Research and Markets,
Guinness Centre,
Taylors Lane,
Dublin 8,
Ireland.