Durgapur, February 17, 2021: Essar Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Ltd (EOGEPL), India’s leading Coal Bed Methane (CBM) gas producer, today said it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration with the prestigious IIT (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, to jointly work on research and development of various advanced CBM technological innovations indigenously.
EOGEPL, an investee company of Essar Global Fund Limited (EGFL), is one of India’s largest operator of unconventional hydrocarbon acreages. EGFL’s investments in EOGEPL are a part of its portfolio of Essar Capital’s upstream business, which is increasingly focused on clean energy. As energy transition happens in the world, CBM gas is widely seen as green fuel of this century.
IIT(ISM) a premier Institute of National Importance located at Dhanbad, was founded in 1926. Currently, the Institute has a wide spectrum of 18 branches of Engineering, Applied Sciences, Management Studies and Humanities, but the core lies in its state of the art Mining, Geology and Petroleum sector, the initial departments to be set up. The location of the Institute at the heart of Damodar Valley Coalfields (Dhanbad) and approximately 100 km from EOGEPL Raniganj CBM block offers an inherent strategic advantage to the partnership.
“We at Essar are very excited to have IIT (ISM) Dhanbad as our preferred partner for new age R&D in the space of advanced exploration and development in the area of CBM. It is a unique milestone for us as it is the best partner in the country to join hands with when it comes to R&D in oil and gas sector. We look forward to have a great academic and practical discourse with the top institution and path breaking research in the field of CBM gas,” said Mr. Santosh Chandra, CEO, EOGEPL.
Both the partners will explore research and development for plethora of technological frontiers like microbial enhanced recovery, advance reservoir simulation, CBM exploitation technology from deeper coal seams amongst others. They will also jointly work towards finding an effective solution for various technological and operational challenges faced during CBM E&P.
As part of the MoU, EOGEPL would propose an initial list of research topics and provide data for the same to the industry experts and researchers of IIT Dhanbad. It will also allow access to its CBM wells in Ranigunj field to carry out investigation, research experiments and jointly pursue collaborative research as well as training programmes with the prestigious mining school.
While IIT (ISM) would survey and scout for advanced technologies of interest to EOGEPL and advise the company on the potential benefits or challenges, collecting and understanding contemporary E&P issues for utilizing their strength and dynamically upgrading the work for the results. It will also provide advanced training to EOGEPL officials towards knowledge building/knowledge transfer in mutually agreed areas.
EOGEPL’s Raniganj East CBM Block in West Bengal is a flagship asset with a significant volume of CBM gas resources. It has already been accepted as a showcase of CBM development in the country and has created a niche gas customer base who continue to depend on the supply of CBM gas to sustain their own businesses.
Presently the block is also connected with the prestigious Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga pipeline of GAIL as part of the National Gas grid for sustained gas supply. The company is continuously working towards enhancing the potential of the Ranigunj block as a model of sustainability and social licence towards ‘sustainable CBM development’.
The company has already invested over Rs. 4,000 crores in the prolific Ranigunj East CBM block towards drilling wells, setting up supply infrastructure and laying customer pipelines to Durgapur and nearby industrial areas.
Raniganj has 1.1 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of certified CBM reserves. EOGEPL aims to double its reserve base in next few years.