Essar to double CBM gas production to 1 mmscmd.

Mumbai’s Ruia family-owned Essar plans to double production of coal-seam gas or coal-bed methane (CBM) from its Raniganj east block in West Bengal as a vital Urja-Ganga gas pipeline connecting users in eastern India gets commissioned by year-end, a company official said recently.

Essar Oil and Gas Exploration and Production (EOGEPL) currently produces about 0.45 million standard cubic metres per day due to constraints of pipelines that could take the gas to consumers.

The company plans to ramp up the production to more than 1 mmscmd, the official, who did not wish to be named, said.

The firm has already invested ₹4,000 crore in the project, which encompassed drilling of 348 wells, setting up the supply infrastructure, and laying pipelines to Durgapur and nearby industrial areas.

The current production from the Raniganj east CBM block is lower than its capacity with the company having to throttle the output at about 0.45 mmscmd because of lack of a pipeline to take the gas to consumers.The official said EOGEPL is also planning to drill additional wells in accordance with the approved field development plan for the block. The additional wells will enable the company to ramp up production to a peak of 2.3 mmscmd in the next few years, he said.

HBL