Essar Oil to start coal gas sale by January-March
02 Nov 2009
Integrated oil and gas company Essar Oil Ltd today said it would start selling coal bed methane, or natural gas, extracted from coal seams in West Bengal by the last quarter of the current fiscal (January-March 2009-10).
Essay Oil said Texas, US-based gas consulting firm Netherland, Sewell and Associates, Inc has certified the in- place reserves at the company's Raniganj coal bed methane (CBM) block in West Bengal at a level of 3.1 trillion cubic feet.
One-third of these reserves are recoverable, with upside potential, the company said in a press release.
"Gas flow has already started and sales are likely to commence from Q4 FY2010," it said.
Essar has emerged a leading CBM player with the government awarding the 3.2 tcf Rajmahal CBM block in Jharkhand in the fourth round of bidding for CBM blocks.
"Essar Oil is fast emerging as a major player in the CBM space in India, with a potential in-place resource of over 8 tcf. Going forward there would be a lot more focus on E&P." Essar Oil managing director Naresh Nayyar said.