Reliance Group (RIL), which has executed the world’s single largest refinery complex at one place, and one of the most complex gas projects in the depth of the Bay of Bengal on the East coast of India, may join global oil majors in search of shale gas.
RIL has been studying the breakthroughs and the new technologies that are being used in producing shale gas that is now a huge rage in the US. “We are studying the prospects and we will take a decision on the investment in the next six months. RIL is looking at the overseas markets and it plans to go big in new technology. We now have the balance sheet to support such a move,” a senior RIL executive, who did not wish to be named, told ET.
Shale gas is natural gas produced from shale — a fine grained sedimentary rock composed of flakes of clay and minerals like quartz and calcite. “The future of energy is a low-carbon regime. Shale gas is one such example. It is somewhat like coal-bed methane and is on land. The US has made major strides in the technology in shale gas that has made it now a commercial proposition,” the executive in the know said.
According to Vijay Kelkar, former petroleum secretary and chairman of the 13th finance commission, it’s innovative technology using horizontal drilling (allowing the gas to be brought out easily) that made this fuel a commercial possibility. Mr Kelkar had floated a paper on how such non-conventional possibilities existed in gas hydrates — deposits in sea — near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Reliance, which has used advanced technology in its exploration projects in the Krishna-Godavari basin, is betting on its expertise in technology to tap unconventional energy sources in the energy value chain. The company has been eyeing unconventional energy sources, such as solar, for some time now. But industry analysts are of the view that a fuel like shale gas is perhaps the best bet as it has already been proved as a commercial proposition.
Source:http://rilrnrlgasdispute.wordpress.com/2009/11/17/ril-hunts-for-shale-gas/
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