Essar Oil & Gas Exploration and Production (EOGEP) is planning to drill two pilot wells in the Raniganj coal-bed methane (CBM) block by the end of 2019. The number of wells will later be increased to 20 at an investment of Rs 551 crore.
The company has already received the environmental clearance (EC) for 20 wells. The Raniganj CBM block has a potential shale reserve of eight tcf of gas, and a recoverable potential of 1.6 tcf. The company intends to drill around two wells by the end of December 2019.
The investment will be in the form of equity at the rate of USD four million per well. The complete field development will involve a capital expenditure of USD one billion over the next five-six years.
The exploration of shale gas and development of CBM blocks have a potential to produce 8.5 mmscmd of gas from five-six CBM blocks in India.