NEW DELHI, Dec 14 (KUNA) — India has started production of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) — a form of natural gas from coal beds — and has extracted 4.7 million standard cubic metres till October 31 this year.
Commercial production and sale of CBM began on July 14 this year from the Raniganj South block in Eastern Indian state of West Bengal operated by Great Eastern Energy Corporation Limited, an official in the Indian Petroleum Ministry told reporters at Delhi Friday.
By 2015, the entire area of Indian sedimentary basins would be under exploration, of which 80 per cent would be covered during 2007-12, he said.
Almost 44 percent of the Indian sedimentary basin area is being now explored for oil and gas, he informed.
The area under exploration increased four times after the introduction of the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP). Before that, only 11 per cent of the Indian sedimentary basin area was explored, the official said.
The NELP was launched by the Indian Government in 1999 for accelerating the pace of hydrocarbon exploration in the country.