Shale gas exploration acreages to be available from next year

At present, the Ministry of Petroleum is working on a shale gas regime to find out the most suitable one for the country."We are expecting that by next year shale gas exploration acreages will be given. Currently, we are also working to find out a better shale gas regime. This shale gas regime will be a win-win situation for all," DGH's Director General Sunil Kumar Srivastava told reporters here.

Areas such as Cambay basin, Krishna-Godavari basin and Assam-Arakan basin are considered as most prospective areas for shale gas exploration, he said.

However, Srivastava said that given the variability of shale across India, a rapid pace of source development would probably come only after successful explorations in the initial basins.

The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the US on shale gas, where the US Geological Survey (USGS) is likely to do a resource assessment of certain shale basins in India, he said.