Essar Oil and Gas Exploration & Production (EOGEPL) is planning to invest $100m (Rs9.15bn) in a new drilling initiative at its Raniganj East coal bed methane (CBM) block in the Indian state of West Bengal, reported the Economic Times.
EOGEPL is the upstream division of Essar Group.
With the investment, the company aims to enhance natural gas production from this block, currently the largest CBM-producing site in India.
The drilling programme, which represents the next phase of development at Raniganj East, aims to introduce pilot projects for horizontal CBM wells.
Raniganj East is believed to have approximately four trillion cubic feet of in-place CBM resources.
With existing infrastructure capable of handling up to three million standard cubic metres per day (mscm/d) of gas, the new investment will help expand production capacity.
In addition to CBM exploration, EOGEPL is assessing the potential for shale gas extraction within the Raniganj area.
EOGEPL CEO Pankaj Kalra said: “Till date, EOGEPL has invested over Rs60bn in developing the Raniganj East CBM block, including the drilling of 454 wells and the construction of more than 350km of pipeline infrastructure.
“Over the last few years, the company has spent an additional Rs6bn to drill around 100 wells, all of which are now on production.”
Technical studies conducted with IIT Bombay and the University of Utah have identified hydrocarbons and favourable geo-mechanical conditions conducive for shale gas development.
India's drive for increased domestic gas production aims to decrease dependency on imports while promoting city gas networks and industrial usage.
Efforts are particularly focused on coal-rich regions like Raniganj due to their established infrastructure and proximity to demand centres.
Kalra added: “The company has outlined plans to increase production to around 5mscm/d by 2028, driven by a combination of incremental CBM drilling, improved recovery techniques and potential shale development.”
In January 2024, Essar Oil UK, a unit of Essar, partnered with Elessent Clean Technologies to develop its EET industrial carbon capture facility at Stanlow, UK.
