India to Roll Out Shale Gas Policy by Mid-April

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources India (Delhi, India)--In a bid to meet the growing demand of gas and to cut the country's dependence on expensive imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), the government of India is creating a policy to exploit the country's shale gas reserves.

India's Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) (New Delhi) already has released a draft shale gas policy seeking public comments. The final policy is likely to be tabled before the Cabinet in next two weeks for approval. Speaking at the National Editors' Conference in New Delhi, India's Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dr. M. Veerappa Moily, called for ushering in a "shale gas revolution" in the country. "Much like the United States of America, shale gas can emerge as an important new source of energy for our nation... The shale gas policy will to give impetus to domestic gas production," the minister asserted.

Shale gas has become an important source of natural gas in the U.S. since the beginning of this century. From a mere 1% share of U.S. natural gas production in 2000, the contribution of shale gas increased to more than 20% in 2010. The U.S. government's Energy Information Administration predicts that by 2035, 46% of the U.S. natural gas supply will come from shale gas.

According to DGH, India has several Shale formations indicating the presence of shale oil and gas. Preliminary estimates suggest that fairly thick sequences with high shale gas potential are extensively present in the oil, gas and coal sedimentary basins. So far, six basins have been identified as potentially holding shale gas: Cambay in Gujarat, Assam-Arakan in the northeast, Gondawana in central India, KG-onshore in Andhra Pradesh, Cauvery onshore, and the Indo Gangatic basins.

"The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates that India has shale gas reserves of 290 trillion cubic feet (tcf), of which 63 tcf is recoverable," says the Directorate in the draft policy. "That would be enough to meet India's natural gas demand for 33 years."

According to India's Petroleum Ministry, DGH has initiated steps to identify prospective areas for shale gas exploration and acquisition of additional geo-scientific data. With new exploration technologies, such as multistage hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," combined with horizontal drilling, production of shale gas has become easier and economic.

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