An airport above and a producing coal bed methane block below might sound unrealistic but if state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has its way, Raniganj North coal bed methane (CBM) block in West Bengal might see one such initiative.
The new breakthrough comes after speculations that ONGC and its partner Coal India (CIL) might relinquish the block as it falls under the air strip of Bengal Aerotropolis at Durgapur. "We have no plans to relinquish the block. On the other hand, we are trying to revive the plan through lateral drilling. Through this, the CBM project can take off, even if it falls under the airstrip," said A K Dwivedi, director (exploration), ONGC. Through lateral drilling, exploration can happen below, no matter whatever development project happens above the surface. As far as Raniganj North CBM block is concerned, ONGC is waiting for the petroleum mining lease (PML) and environment clearance from the state government to go ahead with the project, he added.
Earlier, Coal India had a similar issue with state-owned power generator NTPC for the North Karanpura block. NTPC had planned 1980 Mw power plant below which there were coal deposits. ONGC believes it can use at least 60 per cent of the 350-sq km Ranigunj North block under the new plan. The expected reserves of the block is 43 billion cubic metres (bcm). The oil and gas major has four CBM blocks, including Jharia, Bokaro and North Karanpura in Jharkhand and Raniganj North. Currently, the Raniganj (east) block by Essar Oil and Great Eastern Energy Corporation's Raniganj (south) are the only two CBM blocks in the country that are under production.
ONGC is set to start commercial production of CBM from its blocks by the next financial year. "We are looking forward to start production soon," D K Sarraf, chairman and managing director of ONGC said last week.
While North Karanpura holds 62 bcm reserves, Jharia has 85 bcm, while Bokaro holds 45 bcm.
ONGC is the operator of the Raniganj North block with 74 per cent stake, while CIL holds the remaining 26 per cent stake. ONGC has partnerships in other blocks, too, with CIL holding 10 per cent stake in Jharia and Indian Oil Corporation holding 20 per cent stake in Bokaro and North Karanpura.
CIL betting big on CBM
It was in 2002 that the government had allotted these blocks on nomination basis for commercial development of CBM. "We own the mining lease in the coal blocks that have been allotted but the CBM project is executed jointly by the coal and petroleum and natural gas ministry. We are awaiting more guidelines to proceed with the plan," said a senior CIL official.
One of the major roadblocks for CBM exploitation in the country arises out of the fact that 81 per cent of the area where the gas can be mined is with Coal India, which owns the land's lease after it was nationalised. While initially, gas companies were allowed to mine CBM, the process resulted in conflicts as the coal ministry owned the land. In November 2015, the petroleum and natural gas ministry permitted Coal India to mine CBM from its coal fields with the option of choosing a state-owned gas company as a partner.
In 2013, the government had allowed Coal India and other state-run firms to exploit CBM while mining coal but not much progress was made. Coal India has tasked its Ranchi-based subsidiary Central Mine Planning & Design Institute (CMPDI) with carrying on the project along with the government-nominated partner ONGC, but nothing has been achieved except digging the boreholes and pilot testing a project.
A field development plan for both the Raniganj and Jharia CBM blocks, where CIL also is a partner, were approved by the Union government in July 2013. While the Jharkhand government took two years to grant PML for the Jharia block, the work in the field development phase could not be started owing to non-availability of environmental clearance.
Faced with roadblocks everywhere, CMPDI together with the Geological Survey of India are now carrying out studies related to CBM assessment in selected boreholes drilled under the promotional regional exploration since the 10th Plan period. While initially focusing its efforts on these coal blocks for CBM exploitation, CMPDI has turned its focus towards Talcher in Odisha and Mand-Raigarh Coalfields in Chhattisgarh where it has prepared three reports.
According to the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons, India has the fifth largest proven coal reserves in the world and the projected CBM resources in the country are 92 trillion cubic feet (tcf) in 12 states of India.
Four rounds of CBM bidding has happened so far, in which 33 blocks covering 62.4 tcf were awarded. Out of this, 9.9 tcf has been established as 'gas in place'. Out of the 33 blocks, 17 have been relinquished so far.
