|
The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas & Panchayati Raj, Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, will lead a delegation, which is leaving tomorrow for Moscow to participate in the Fourth Round of the Russian Oil & Gas Week in Moscow. The Minister will also be visiting Skochinsky Institute of Mining, Moscow with whom ONGC is pursuing technical collaboration for Underground Coal Gassification (UCG).
UCG is a method of exploiting the coal deposits in-situ instead of mining the coal and bringing it to the surface. Through UCG, it is possible to exploit the deeper coals and lignites for their energy value, which are otherwise neither technically feasible nor economically viable at present. UCG opens a way to exploit such untapped resources.
India has huge coal resources at depths below 600 meters. Even if a small fraction of this coal is exploited, it will go a long way to supplement oil and gas reserves. In order to meet the growing demand of energy driven by economic growth, the country has to make sustained efforts for new sources of energy. UCG provides a very good alternative energy source. The product gas can substitute natural gas in all the applications. The UCG project is indeed economically viable, further all the components of the necessary technology and expertise is available in ONGC. Therefore, it is planned to access the overall technology from our Russian collaborators immediately. In due course, substantial gas products potential can be built and sustained on the basis of known coal reserves in India.
The visit of the Minister to Skochinsky Institute of Mining will pave the foundation for entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ONGC and Skochinsky Institute of Mining for cooperation in the field of UCG.
|
