(LiveMint)
State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) may shelve its shale gas exploration plans, two executives from the company said, citing the firm’s “limited success” in the exploration programme.
“We have drilled around 22-23 wells as part of our shale gas exploration programme. We have had some limited success and the results are not very encouraging,” said Shashi Shanker, chairman and managing director, told Mint during a media interaction on 11 November in Mumbai. Shale gas, an unconventional source of energy found in non-porous rocks, has drawn increasing international attention after becoming an important source of natural gas in the US and Canada.
One of the two officials cited above said conditions for shale gas exploration are not conducive in India as the availability of huge water resources, needed for shale gas operations, remains a formidable challenge, requesting anonymity. ONGC had initiated exploration for assessing the shale gas/oil prospects in four basins—Cambay, Krishna Godavari, Cauvery and the Assam-Arakan Basin.
