(a) the details of natural gas resources found in various parts of the country during the last three years, State-wise;
(b) the details of their potential and the extent to which the potential has so far been exploited; and
(c) the steps taken by the Government for optimum utilization of gas resources of the country?
MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS AND PANCHAYATI RAJ (SHRI MANI SHANKAR AIYAR)
(a) to (c): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF THE LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 564 FOR 5TH MAY, 2005 ASKED BY S/SHRI BRAJA KISHORE TRIPATHY AND KISHANBHAI V. PATEL REGARDING NATURAL GAS RESOURCES
(a) & (b): During the last 3 years from 2001-02 to 2003-04, state-wise in-place accretion of gas reserves by ONGC, OIL and Private/Joint Venture companies are as under -
State In-place Reserves
in Billion Cubic Metres (BCM)
Andhra Pradesh 11.369 Arunachal Pradesh 3.690 Assam 37.758 Gujarat 9.928 Rajasthan 0.762 Tamil Nadu 9.764 Tripura 6.339
Total 79.610
(i) Under successive rounds of the 1997 New Exploration Licensing Policy(NELP), several improvement have been and are being made to exponentially enhance investment in the exploration and production of natural gas, both onshore and offshore, by attracting public and private sector investment and Foreign Direct Investment, as well as encouraging partnerships among interested national and foreign players.
(ii) Award of Coal Bed Methane Blocks, the first production of which is expected to commence in 2006-07.
(iii) Underground Coal Gasification in collaboration with the Skochinsky Institute of Mining, Moscow and ERGO of Canada.
(iv) LNG from Qatar, Iran and, possibly, Australia, as well as natural gas by pipeline from Iran, Mayanmar and possibly Turkmenistan: negotiations with them have commenced.
(v) R&D for gas hydrates.