India's First Shale Gas Four Years Away

Oil & Natural Gas Corp and other energy firms in India may have to drill for at least four years before producing the first commercial shale gas in the nation, Bloomberg reported.

ONGC is studying data for shale- gas deposits and awaiting a government policy on commercial drilling, Sudhir Vasudeva, chairman of the state-run company, said in an interview to Bloomberg.

“We’re studying data, but it’s still early days and may be four to five years before commercial drilling starts,” Vasudeva said.

India’s shale gas reserves were downgraded significantly recently by the U.S. Geological Survey to 6.1 trillion cubic feet from 63 trillion cubic feet.

 “The U.S. estimates are just estimates, and we’ll have to survey the geology and deposits and drill wells before we know how much shale gas we have,” Vasudeva said. “What we do know is that India does have shale-gas reserves.”