India approves rules for shale gas exploration

New policy covers shale gas and oil exploration. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates show that India could have as much as 96 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of recoverable shale gas reserves equivalent to 26 years of the country's gas demand. Exploration and production of shale gas, however, remains a long way off for India. India is beset by energy shortages that make power outages common and hinders its industrial growth. Energy imports account for a large share of its energy supplies and strains its finances. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the shale gas and oil exploration program to boost domestic output. This policy will allow national oil companies to carry out exploration and exploitation of unconventional hydrocarbon resources particularly shale gas and oil in their already awarded in Petroleum Exploration License/Petroleum Mining Lease (PEL/PML) acreages under the nomination regime. Six basins hold shale gas potential: Cambay (Gujarat); Assam-Arakan (in the northeast); Gondawana (in central India); KG onshore (in Andhra Pradesh); Cauvery onshore and the Indo-Gangetic basins. State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp and Oil India Ltd have been permitted to explore and produce shale oil and gas. Of the 356 blocks held by ONGC and Oil India, 176 could hold shale resources. The government will offer shale oil and gas blocks to other companies through an auction planned after this policy is taken to the Cabinet for approval in next few weeks.