Reliance Industries to Begin CBM Production in India Soon

Reliance Industries is shortly expected to commence coal bed methane (CBM) production at its blocks in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, Press Trust of India reported on Sunday.

Test gas production from Phase-1 facilities of Sohagpur-West block has commenced while the pipeline that will take the fuel to the consumers is under testing and pre-commissioning, the company said. Initial output is likely to be one million standard cubic meters per day of gas. A peak production of 3.5 mmscmd is envisaged from the two Sohagpur blocks in the state.

Reliance holds three CBM blocks in India: 495 square kilometer Sohagpur (East) and 500 sq km Sohagpur (West) in Madhya Pradesh and Sonhat in Chhattisgarh.

Phase-1 development envisages drilling and completion of 229 wells and installation of two gas gathering stations (GGS), Press Trust said. The gas produced will be transported from Sohagpur to Phulpur near Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh through a 312 km pipeline. The pipeline will have a capacity to transport 4.3 million standard cubic metres per day (mmscmd) of gas, including 0.875 mmscmd capacity that will be available for any third party for open access on non-discriminatory basis.

At Phulpur, the pipeline may be hooked into state-owned gas utility GAIL India Ltd's main Hazira-Vijaypur-Jagdishpur trunk gas pipeline.