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Essar Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Ltd (EOGEPL), India's pioneering unconventional hydrocarbon (Coal Bed Methane) player, Monday announced its investment in Microbial eCBM technology to boost CBM production.

This initiative is in line with EOGEPL's commitment to invest in R&D and improve operations. EOGEPL has collaborated with The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI) and ONGC Energy Centre (OEC) to establish the potential of eCBM Microbial technology in the Raniganj-East Block of the company.

The feasibility test of the technique has been completed in collaboration with TERI-OEC, and in parallel R&D is ongoing for full-field application.

Commenting on the initiative Pankaj Kalra, CEO of EOGEPL said, "The investment in Microbial eCBM technology demonstrates our commitment to increase production and reserves base. With this initiative, we aim to upsurge gas production while contributing towards our Honourable PM's vision of becoming a 'Gas-Based Economy' in the next decade."

After extensive study, eCBM Microbial stimulation has been completed in five wells of Raniganj-East Block of the Company. These wells will be monitored for the coming three to six months, and based on the results, along with final optimization of design, EOGEPL will implement the technology at large scale to maximize gas yield and improve reserves base.

The Microbial Treatment is one of the "Enhanced Recovery Methods" used in the oil & gas industry to increase reserves. With the introduction of the Microbial Stimulation Technology, an upsurge in production of CBM gas is expected, while improving the reserve base by up to 10 per cent. EOGEPL has so far invested in excess of Rs 5,000 crore in exploration to commercial development of the Raniganj CBM Block and is the only E&P Company in India to produce over 80 BCF of CBM till date.

As the largest CBM producer in the country, EOGEPL is committed to investing in cutting edge technologies such as hydro-fracking, radial drilling, and microbial treatments to further advance its R&D efforts. The company plans to invest an additional Rs 2,000 crore to enhance its reserve base and ramp up CBM production to contribute at least ~5 per cent to India's total gas production.