Global Times: Can new land acquisition bill facilitate India’s shale gas progress?

Heated debates on energy security are inevitable in an energy-thirsty nation like India, where the gap between supply and demand for energy resources is constantly growing. 

Domestic energy supply constraints mean India has ever increasing imports in the form of crude oil and coal. These strain the country's finances, and consequently the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas feels the need to dig deep to find untapped natural gas resources, in particular, non-conventional fuels like shale gas and coal bed methane.

The gas sector is at the core of India's energy sector and capturing those resources is a key need. But gas production and reserves are plummeting. As a result, India has more often than not witnessed the impact of gas shortages, particularly with respect to its gas-run power sectors, which witnessed a record decline in their power generation in the September 2013 quarter, falling by 41.7 percent year on year to 9.9 billion units.  

Considering existing energy trends and the likely future natural gas scenario, given the shale gas boom in the US and potential shale resource finds by the India's Energy Information Administration (EIA) in the six main basins of the country, the Indian government is ramping up gas exploration.

The recent estimates by the EIA reveal 96 trillion cubic feet of recoverable shale gas reserves in India. Being the world's third largest energy consumer and net natural gas importer since 2004, shale gas production can be a promising alternative for India. The tapping of domestic shale gas reserves would be crucial for India's goal of reducing crude oil imports to nil by 2030.

But as the government is determined to come out with its new shale gas policy, it continues to face challenges on two major grounds: the availability of water resources in areas planned for shale gas extraction and the land on which such exploration and production work will take place. MORE