Country’s first shale gas well lies idle in Durgapur as country deals with fuel shortage

At a time when the nation is grappling with petroleum fuel shortage amid the ongoing Tehran–Tel Aviv conflict, the country’s vast shale gas reserves, capable of meeting demand for at least 60 years, remain largely untapped. The first major discovery near Durgapur, made 15 years ago, continues to lie idle.

On 25 January, 2011, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) struck non-conventional shale gas in the Barren Measures formation at a depth of 1,700 metres in Ichhapur village, about 15 km from Durgapur. The pilot exploration in the Damodar Basin followed extensive studies by the KD Malaviya Institute of Petroleum Exploration.

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Drilling at Ichhapur began on 26 September, 2010, with technical support from Schlumberger. The pioneering well, RNSG-1, was drilled to 2,000 metres, encountering the target shale between 985 and 1,843 metres. ONGC later completed three additional wells in north Karanpura, Jharkhand, by March 2012 under a Rs 128-crore project.

Despite proven reserves in the Raniganj sub-basin (estimated at 6.63 crore cubic feet, with 1.7 crore cubic feet extractable) commercial production has not taken off. Officials cite water scarcity for hydro-fracturing, seismic concerns, environmental constraints, land acquisition issues and high costs as key challenges.

Although ONGC has an arrangement with Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) for transporting coal bed methane, no clarity has been provided regarding shale gas. “We have not received any definite direction from ONGC yet,” a senior GAIL official said.