India to Auction First Shale Blocks by Year-end

India plans to auction the first of its shale gas blocks by the end of the current year as it seeks to tap unconventional fuel to reduce the country's energy shortfall, accorrding to media reports quoting SK Srivastava, director general of hydrocarbons.

"Resource assessment, policy framework and legislative changes are in progress" the head of the nation's oil regulator said at a conference in New Delhi

Energy analysts in India predict gas demand will double by 2015, describing shale gas as one of the best options the country has to meet surging demand. Natural gas provides India with 10 percent of its energy requirements currently.

U.S. oilfield service provider Schlumberger has drilled the first shale gas well in India in the Damodar River Valley in the east of the country. (Read More HERE)

Anil Swani, the vice president of Asian services for Schlumberger, said the shale gas was in the pilot phase and production was still about five years away. India, he said, has more than 600 trillion cubic feet of shale gas deposits, which suggests there is more shale gas than conventional gas.