The Society of Petroleum Engineers at Indian Institute of Technology – Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad (SPE IIT-ISM) recently hosted a webinar on ‘Indian Oil & Gas Industry – A roadmap to a brighter future’.
Mr Santosh Chandra, CEO – Essar Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Limited (EOGEPL), joined the discussion which saw eminent industry veterans, such as Dr Rakesh Vij, Advisor – ONGC and Shri Omkar Nath Gyani, Head of Research – ONGC, in attendance. The webinar was moderated by Dr Anand Gupta, Additional Director General, DGH – MoPNG. Dr Gupta commenced the session by delving into the vision and mission of the Department of Petroleum Engineering, elaborating on India’s Energy Map envisaged by the Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. He specifically praised Essar for its efforts in developing the Coal Bed Methane (CBM) sector.
Mr Santosh Chandra initiated the discussion by speaking about energy transition, value chain and EOGEPL’s target of net zero emission. He also stated that while the driving factors for sustainable gas production and sales are security of supply and infrastructure, currently India’s share of gas is less in quantity, which has led Essar to look into the prospects of producing and distributing Liquid Natural Gas (LNG). While speaking about CBM, Mr Chandra stated that technology, economics and policies have to be taken under keen consideration for success in the sector. Mentioning Essar’s focus on the CBM production ramp-up from the Raniganj East CBM project, he also spoke of the company’s plans to expand into bio CNG, bio gas, and Shale gas exploration in the future.