Coal-Bed Methane Production To Begin In West Bengal (Process Uses Large Quantities Of Water - Duh)

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Essar Oil Ltd., operator of India’s second-largest non-state refiner, may start production of natural gas from coal seams in the eastern state of West Bengal by the end of this year, an official said.

The area has gas reserves of 2.2 trillion cubic feet and may produce 2.5 million cubic meters a day of the cleaner- burning fuel at the peak rate in three years, Shishir Agrawal, chief executive officer of Essar Exploration & Production India Ltd., said in an interview. The reserves are equal to 19 percent of the deposits in KG-D6, India’s biggest gas field operated by Reliance Industries Ltd.

Essar Oil was among explorers that bid for coal bed methane fields when they were first auctioned by India in 2001. The South Asian nation, which imports about 75 percent of its energy requirements, is currently holding talks with potential bidders for India’s biggest oil and gas field auction, including 10 coal bed methane blocks.

“All this gas production and discoveries may not be enough to bridge the shortfall as demand is continuously rising,” A.N. Sridhar, a fund manager at Sahara Asset Management Co. in Mumbai, said by telephone. “Production costs for industries will, however, reduce as domestic gas starts to replace more expensive naphtha and fuel oil.”

EDIT

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601072&sid=aTef6GZE2IoM

Somebody's not paying attention!

Using the large quantities of water, I mean.

Truly there is no scheme so destructive that it won't be tried by someone.