Cambay project puts Gujarat on global shale gas map

“This is our nation’s dream come true. We are going to realise Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of economic independence here in Gujarat,” said Moily after dedicating the well to the nation. This well is part of the company’s Ankleshwar Asset of ONGC. The well has a target depth of 3,300 metres. It is currently reached around 1,885 metres.

According to Moily and other officials of ONGC,India has recoverable shale gas reserves of around 90 TCF,which can satiate India’s energy demand for 26 years.

In an attempt to emulate the success of shale gas discoveries in the United States,ONGC is now planning to dig 30 shale gas exploratory wells at the cost of Rs 600 crore by 2014-15. ONGC’s chairperson and managing director Sudhir Vasudeva said,“Four years back,we had started drilling four R&D wells in Durgapur. Here we demonstrated that shale gas can be produced.”

“We will be investing Rs 38 crore in this well (at Cambay). This is no more than a research well. The data from this well will give us more leads for further exploration. It will help us ascertain parameters to take up commercial production,” he said.

ONGC officials felt that the results from the first exploratory well will “open a new chapter in shale-gas exploration in the country”.

“We will be drilling 10 such wells during this fiscal in Cambay,Krishna-Godavari and Cauvery basins. An additional 20 wells will be dug in during 2014-15,” Vasudeva said,adding that ONGC will be spending Rs 600 crore on shale gas exploration by next fiscal. These explorations are expected to be carried out in alliance with ConocoPhilips,a US-based oil company that is leader in shale gas and deep-water exploration.

Apart from the Cambay Basin in Gujarat,the company which is looking to tap unconventional and alternate sources of energy will also be exploring Krishna-Godavari,Cauvery and Vindhyan sedimentary basins for shale gas in the near future.