The Hindu Business Line : UK interested in joint ventures for methane exploration

REPRESENTATIVES of four UK companies specialising in coal bed methane (CBM) have evinced keen interest in participating in joint ventures for exploration and commercial exploitation of methane gas available in abandoned as well as active underground coal mines in Raniganj and Jharia coalfields in West Bengal and Jharkhand.

The representatives of these companies — Wardell Armstrong, Alkane Energy, British Geological Services and Trolex UK — who recently visited the city as part of the UK-India Coal Bed Methane Technology Transfer Project, earlier visited the mines and met senior officials of the State-owned coal companies. They also held talks with a few private companies which have plans to extract coal bed methane for commercial use.

After returning from the mine visits, they told Business Line that they were aware that Coal India Ltd, ONGC, GAIL and a few private companies such as Reliance Industries and Essar Oil Ltd were exploring the possibility of exploiting CBM from virgin coal blocks. In most cases, Indian companies intended to extract methane gas prior to developing a virgin coal block. However, they expressed doubt about the economic viability of such ventures.

On behalf of the UK team, Mr Kevin Garner of Wardell and Mr David Oldham of Alkane said that chemical and physical properties of Indian coal had to be understood first before going in for any CBM projects. Geologically, the most desirable CBM sites would have coal seams that are saturated with, or without, free gas and have moderate permeability. Factors that influenced the selection of well sites included geological features, gas content, environmental impact, water disposal options, access and market opportunities.

They said that UK companies were keen on involving themselves in the exploitation of methane gas from abandoned and running underground mines, but not from virgin coal mines. This was because the UK was technologically strong in the commercial extraction of methane from abandoned mines, using unique technology to pump the gas from underground mines.

Referring to Alkane's performance, Mr Oldham said that Alkane Energy had extracted gas from abandoned coal mines for direct supply to local consumers or for on-site power generation. The company currently has three "green energy parks" in full production.