Gas hydrates and Shale Oil in India

Apollyon

Führer
Senior Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2011
Messages
3,134
Likes
4,573
Country flag
iirc ... RIL has a JV with a US based Pioneer and have also invested in US for Shale Gas extraction ... :notsure:
 

Yusuf

GUARDIAN
Super Mod
Joined
Mar 24, 2009
Messages
24,324
Likes
11,757
Country flag
iirc ... RIL has a JV with a US based Pioneer and have also invested in US for Shale Gas extraction ... :notsure:
It's for Shale oil. This was the reason why reliance was forced to back out from exporting refined oil to Iran.
 

Apollyon

Führer
Senior Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2011
Messages
3,134
Likes
4,573
Country flag
It's for Shale oil. This was the reason why reliance was forced to back out from exporting refined oil to Iran.
:nono:

The RIL-Pioneer JV is concentrating drilling in the liquid-rich areas of Eagle Ford in South Texas, US. The JV is producing 165 million standard cubic ft per day (mscfd) of shale gas and 13,800 barrels per day of condensate. RIL's share of gas production is 5.05 billion cubic ft. Production ramp-up is as per plan, said the company.
Business Line : Companies News : Reliance gets shale gas boost; pumps in $400 m in Q1
 

nrj

Ambassador
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
9,658
Likes
3,911
Country flag
US to offer liquefied shale gas to India

Envoy makes 'detailed and expansive presentations' on oil and gas markets

India and the U.S., on Tuesday, held talks on weaning New Delhi away from dependence on Iranian oil and while both sides stated their known positions on the issue, one positive outcome of the talks, which were wide ranging in nature and not focussed just on Iran, was the possibility of India importing shale gas in liquefied form from the U.S.

Indian officials, during their meeting with U.S. Special Envoy on Energy Carlos Pascual, explained the long-term projections of India's energy needs, including key suppliers of oil and natural gas and possible external energy sources in Africa, North America and Southeast Asia.

India is, at present, importing crude oil from 30 countries spread across different continents, the U.S. team was told. From the trend of discussions, officials said the possibility of the U.S. exporting shale gas to India should be seen positively.

Desperate to corner Iran in concert with other countries, the U.S. has been seeking sharp reduction in Indian oil purchases from Iran.

The issue was highlighted by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton right from the moment she landed in Kolkata last week on her way to Delhi where she dwelt on it during her interactions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna.

India has cut back on oil purchases from Iran but does not admit it was under U.S. pressure. Instead, it argues that displacement of Iran from its position as India's number two supplier of oil was due to a commercial decision by its refineries.

In response to U.S. cajoling, India feels some customers who had moved to alternate sources of oil have not found the experience very encouraging. But because of U.S. insistence during Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai's visit to Washington in February this year, it was agreed to have the envoy come over to discuss this issue as well as some others that are of acute long-term interest for India.

In his interaction with the multi-Ministry delegation drawn from the Ministry of External Affairs, Petroleum and Natural Gas and Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Mr. Pascaul made "detailed and expansive presentations" on the two main agenda items — oil and gas markets, including impact of LNG and of shale gas on the integration of gas markets. His team also made presentations on the demand, supply and consumption pattern projections, including discoveries off the coast of East Africa.

Mr. Pascaul will visit Mumbai on Wednesday for talks with ONGC and financial institutions on the Iran issue as well as shale gas projections.

Besides shale gas, which some experts say could send the price of natural gas plummeting, India was also keen on the discoveries made or being made on the east coast of Africa — offshore gas deposits in Mozambique, indication of huge deposits offshore in Tanzania and on land in Kenya.

This could indicate a vast area in the Indian Ocean could contain hydrocarbons and India would like this knowledge to cover the northern portion of the Indian Ocean as well.


http://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/article3422814.ece
 

nrj

Ambassador
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
9,658
Likes
3,911
Country flag
We too have shale gas!
How about we start digging our own?
We do not have national policy on its extraction yet. Maybe by 2017 we will be up and running with commercial production. Till then we can import from US, African coasts.

With government policy framework on shale gas exploration expected in the next 18-24 months, and given industry's keenness to get into exploration of the clean non-conventional energy source that is also less expensive — no processing is necessary — India can look forward to commercial production of shale gas in the next five years or by 2017, Dayal said.
http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...6-india-holds-527-tcf-shale-gas-reserves.html
 

H.A.

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Messages
1,445
Likes
687
We do not have national policy on its extraction yet. Maybe by 2017 we will be up and running with commercial production. Till then we can import from US, African coasts.

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...6-india-holds-527-tcf-shale-gas-reserves.html
Then what about this:

Business Line : Companies News : Reliance Ind bets big on shale gas biz

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is betting on its shale gas business in fiscal 2012-13. However, its premium gas asset in country's East Coast – D6 block continues to see a drop in output.

The company's net turnover for 2011-12 from oil and gas exploration and production business was Rs 14,115 crore, against Rs 17,322 crore last year. The drop was mainly on account of the decline in D6 output.
 
Last edited:

trackwhack

Senior Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2011
Messages
3,757
Likes
2,589
This is good. Will help balance out the trade deficit that the US has with India. My personal opinion is that we should not depend on domestic shale. If anyone knows how shale gas is drilled and extracted, they will know why. US has 5 times the land area and 1/4th the population of India. They can afford to destroy vast swathes of land drilling for shale. India cannot afford this.

This is a satellite image of a shale gas field. Every one of the white patches was where the gas was drilled out of. By the time the gas company is done, the entire landscape is destroyed, forestry is gone, the soil is poisoned and the land is useless for a few hundred years until nature slowly heals it.

India cannot afford this. We just dont have enough resources for this.



@hussain, there are some estimates that put India's total recoverable shale at twice the amount in US and Canada. Its very tempting but the cost of recovery to the environment is really high
 

nrj

Ambassador
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
9,658
Likes
3,911
Country flag

H.A.

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2011
Messages
1,445
Likes
687
About Shale Gas.



At the core of the shale story is the stunning progress in the technology used to extract the gas from 'tight' rocks, through a process of hydraulic fracturing. This involves bombarding the rocks with millions of litres of chemically treated water to force the gas to flow. Shale gas is no different from the regular natural gas (primarily methane), and its presence over a wide area of thousands of acres has been known for years. But it was not pursued vigorously due to the difficulties of extracting it.
The breakthrough came when a bunch of medium-sized oil companies figured out smarter ways of drilling in the last three years. As technology improved, the recoverable reserves were quickly upgraded. In the Marcellus basin in Pennsylvania for instance, reserves grew from 15 tcf (trillion cubic feet) five years ago to 270 tcf now. Little-known, medium-sized companies like XTO, Devon Energy and Pioneer Natural control the technology and process of extraction.
 

Nagraj

Regular Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Messages
804
Likes
254
^^^ i am guessing then that most countries will have significant Shale Gas.
 
Joined
Feb 16, 2009
Messages
29,798
Likes
48,276
Country flag
Shale energy triggers bean rush in India

FEATURE-Shale energy triggers bean rush in India | Reuters

* U.S. energy firms can't get enough of guar gum, vital for fracking

* India produces 80 percent of global supplies of guar beans

* Indian farmers cashing in on strong demand

* Prices, and supplies, seen easing in 2013 as more crop comes onto market

By Meenakshi Sharma and Selam Gebrekidan

MUMBAI/NEW YORK, May 28 (Reuters) - In India's northern desert states, farmers are scrambling to harvest as much as they can of a bean with the power to lift them out of poverty. In the United States, the multi-billion dollar shale energy industry is banking on their success.

U.S. companies drilling for oil and gas in shale formations have developed a voracious appetite for the powder-like gum made from the seeds of guar, or cluster bean, and the boom in their business has created a bonanza for thousands of small-scale farmers in India who produce 80 percent of the world's beans.

"Guar has changed my life," said Shivlal, a guar farmer who made 300,000 rupees ($5,400) - five times more than his average seasonal income - from selling the beans he planted on five acres (two hectares) of sandy soil in Rajasthan state.

"Now, I have a concrete house and a colour TV. Next season I will even try to grow guar on the roof."

Guar gum, which is also used to make sauces and ice cream, is a main ingredient of the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process used to extract oil and gas from oil shale.

Fracking has been called the technology that will change the geopolitics of energy, boosting domestic North American gas supplies to such an extent that experts predict the net importing region will soon turn into a significant gas exporter.

It has also turned guar into a precious commodity farmers now call "black gold". In the Rajasthani city of Jodhpur, under the shadow of an ancient fort, traders buy guar seed at 305 rupees ($5.5) a kg, a 10-fold increase from a year ago.

"The whole world got caught not ever thinking they would need as much guar as they do now," said Wade Cowan, co-owner of West Texas Guar Inc., a Brownfield, Texas, company that supplies the powder to U.S. energy companies.

India, on average, produces more than 1 million tonnes of guar beans annually, the biggest crop in the world. It exported more than 400,000 tonnes of guar products, including gum, in the fiscal year that ended in March 2011. Exporting beans is prohibited.

U.S. energy firms, however, will need nearly 300,000 tonnes of guar gum this year, energy investment banking firm Simmons & Company International said in a February report. Last year, the guar shortfall forced some U.S. firms to halt fracking, it said.

"There is a shortage of seeds. Last year, good quality seeds were available at around 60 rupees a kilo but now, traders are demanding over 500 rupees per kilo for the same seed," said Shyam Lal, a farmer based in the Churu district of Rajasthan.

GUAR'S RISE TO GLORY

Guar gum is used to increase the viscosity of proppants, materials which are forced into shale fractures to enlarge them so that the oil and gas can be extracted. It also helps reduce friction, which in turn decreases the energy consumed.

In March, the United States bought 33,800 metric tonnes of guar gum from India, the highest amount ever. Last year, U.S. firms bought an average 22,000 metric tonnes from India a month.

About nine tonnes of guar gum are used per well. Some companies are also fracking wells several times to squeeze out as much as possible, which means using even more guar.

As a result, guar prices in India has risen rapidly, so fast that the local commodity exchanges halted trading in guar futures in late March amid a ministerial inquiry.

David Lesar, CEO at market leader Halliburton, recently said the cost of the guar gel now accounted for up to 30 percent of fracking costs to customers in some basins.

"The problem with guar is it is probably the fastest-moving commodity price that I have ever seen," Lesar said.

To cash in on the guar rush, Vikas WSP, India's largest producer of guar gum, is distributing, free of charge, seeds worth more than 900 million rupees to 100,000 farmers and giving them guaranteed returns, said B.D. Agarwal, its chairman and managing director.

Some farmers are planting more seeds early this year, taking advantage of early rain. [ ID:nL4E8GF5AV]

"This upcoming season supplies will definitely be higher than 2011," said Uday Merchant, managing director of Lucid Colloids, a guar exporter based in Mumbai.

The United States produces guar, but only on 40,000 acres (16,187 hectares), an area that pales in comparison with the more than 10 million acres (4 million hectares) Indian farmers are expected to plant this year in th e Thar desert.

In 2011, about 20,000 acres were planted with guar in Texas but only 5,000 acres were cultivated as the crop was hit by drought, said guar supplier Cowan. He estimates the planted acreage might be twice as much this year.

SEARCHING FOR SUBSTITUTES

With the North American shale boom expanding to China, South America and Eastern Europe, oil field services firms around the world are poised to gobble up guar. U.S. industry researchers reckon the global fracking business will grow to $37 billion in 2012, up $6 billion from a year earlier.

But the rising prices and tight supplies are spurring a search for alternatives.

"Guar substitutes become attractive at a certain guar price. We're at that price right now," said Tim Probert, Halliburton's president of strategy and corporate development.

Halliburton touts its "CleanStim" technology as a possibility while Schlumberger points to "HiWay," which it says will cut back on the water and sand use in fracking.

Both firms did not provide specific details about their products, which they said can replace proppants.

CleanStim technology has been used effectively in a number of basins, including the Eagle Ford prospect, and will essentially create a ceiling on guar prices, Probert said.

Other industries that use guar, such as paper, food processing and textiles, have already turned to alternatives.

For fracking, replacing guar will only make sense if prices continue to rocket. But guar producers expect prices to ease by 2013 as the new crop comes to market and supplies increase from all the extra acreage planted.

Guar merchants say prices, like those of many agricultural commodities in India, will hinge on the monsoon rains. The rains are expected to arrive on time at the beginning of June and progress as normal.

But even if guar eases from its current levels, prices would still be highly profitable for farmers who cultivate the crop at very little cost.

And the robust demand from the U.S. shale oil and gas industry shows no sign of abating.

"We're out desperately trying to find more of this product to process for the market, because we could sell all we can find," Jim O'Brien, chief executive officer of U.S. chemical maker Ashland Inc, said. ($1 = 55.4050 rupees) (Additional reporting by Deepak Sharma in Mumbai and Braden Redall in San Francisco; Writing by Jo Winterbottom; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
 

Ray

The Chairman
Professional
Joined
Apr 17, 2009
Messages
43,132
Likes
23,834
Great news for the shale industry.

Sad news for those who love guar phalli.
 

W.G.Ewald

Defence Professionals/ DFI member of 2
Professional
Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
14,139
Likes
8,594
In the US, turning corn crops into ethanol for auto fuel has caused the price of tortillas to increase. :-(
 

ajtr

Tihar Jail
Banned
Joined
Oct 2, 2009
Messages
12,038
Likes
723
Shale Oil Creates Another Gold Rush: Beans

Shale Oil Creates Another Gold Rush: Beans


In India's northern desert states, farmers are scrambling to harvest as much as they can of a bean with the power to lift them out of poverty. In the United States, the multi-billion dollar shale energy industry is banking on their success.

U.S. companies drilling for oil and gas in shale formations have developed a voracious appetite for the powder-like gum made from the seeds of guar, or cluster bean, and the boom in their business has created a bonanza for thousands of small-scale farmers in India who produce 80 percent of the world's beans.

"Guar has changed my life," said Shivlal, a guar farmer who made 300,000 rupees ($5,400) – five times more than his average seasonal income – from selling the beans he planted on five acres (two hectares) of sandy soil in Rajasthan state.
 

Latest Replies

Global Defence

New threads

Articles

Top