More natural gas reserves found in India

National Institute Oceanography (NIO) scientists have discovered huge quantities of natural gas trapped in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (IEEZ) but are unable to tap this due to lack of technology in the country.

NIO scientists, involved in research to find natural gas in Indian basins, have estimated that 1,894 cubic meters of gas can be explored from the region. Speaking to reporters on Sunday at NIO, head of the gas hydrate group, T Ramprasad said there was a possibility of gas hydrates being present off Kochi, which was discovered during recent drilling in the area. “It’s not confirmed but there can be a possibility,” Ramprasad said.

The discovery of gas hydrates in the IEEZ was first made in August, 2006. “Gas was found during drilling in the Krishna-Godavari basin, Mahanadi and Andaman Sea in August 2006.”

Ramprasad said there is currently no technology available with India to extract the gas as these are in a clay formation and in a fractured way. He said that gas trapped in this form is usually double in quantity to that found in fossils.

“If they were in the sand formation, it would be easy to extract,” he added. He said scientists found that the gas is scarred in an uneven way, which makes exploration difficult. Union minister of state for science, technology and earth sciences, Ashwani Kumar said in Goa on Sunday that the government is trying to understand the potential of the trapped gas. Kumar said that once this is ascertained, the public and private sector would be consulted in a bid to explore it. “We expect the private sector to show interest considering the huge dividends they would enjoy after successful exploration,” Kumar said.