Essar Oil & Gas to Invest $100 Million in Raniganj East CBM Block, Aiming for 5 MMSCMD Production by 2028
Essar Oil and Gas Exploration & Production Ltd plans a $100 million investment in a drilling program at its Raniganj East coal bed methane (CBM) block in West Bengal. This initiative aims to significantly boost natural gas production from the current output of approximately 1 million standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD), making it India's largest CBM-producing block.
The Raniganj East block holds an estimated 4 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of in-place CBM resources. Essar has invested over ₹6,000 crore to date, drilling 454 wells and constructing over 350 km of pipeline.
The new program will include pilot projects for horizontal CBM wells, with a target to increase production to around 5 MMSCMD by 2028. The company is also assessing shale gas potential in the area, having conducted studies with IIT Bombay and the University of Utah.
