India Planning Special Agency to Map Shale Resources

India’s oil ministry is planning to have a specialised agency to map its shale gas resources.

The agency will have the mandate to map the presence of shale gas across various states in the Gangetic plain, Assam, Rajasthan and many coastal areas, Financial Express reported.

The agency will conduct studies on the basis of geological, geophysical and geochemical aspects of shale gas exploration, micro-seismic imaging, drilling, completion and production technologies and environmental hazards in shale gas exploitation, the newspaper said.

The government has identified Cambay, Assam-Arakan, Gondawana, KG onshore, Cauvery onshore and the Indo-Gangatic basins for carving out blocks to tap the unconventional fuel. The draft policy favours market-determined pricing of shale gas.