 "Dart Energy to exit India by November")
After nearly a decade’s existence, come November, coal bed methane explorer Dart Energy will wind up its India operations.
Tough working conditions in India is behind the company’s failure, say its officials.
Dart joins the list of over half-a-dozen exploration companies like the Italy’s Eni SpA, Australia’s Santos, the UK-based Foresight Group, BHP Billiton Petroleum, Norway’s Statoil ASA and Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA who have quit India in the past few years.
Dart was the only foreign operator active in the Indian coal bed methane (CBM) sector. CBM is a low pressure methane gas, extracted by fracturing coal seams.
“We invested a lot in India. But our investments did not yield good results. Working in India is very tough. It wasn’t a very good experience for a foreign company like ours,” said an official from Dart Energy.
Dart Energy last year surrendered its stake in the CBM blocks of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
In June 2013, ONGC had offered a 10 to 25 per cent stake in four of its CBM blocks to Dart. Owing to the constant delays in its exploration programmes, Dart said it had decided to exit the country, surrendering its interests in various blocks that it held stakes in.
In 2014, Dart re-focused its strategy, seeking opportunities to farm-out and/or sell or exit all of its activities in India.
Last October, Dart Energy was acquired by UK’s IGas Energy Plc, a leading onshore oil and gas exploration and production operator. The company still holds holds 10 per cent in an Assam block (AS-CBM-2008/IV) with Oil india, which holds 90 per cent stake and the operator of the block. It is not optimistic about the prospects of the block.
IGas Energy in its annual report said, “We completed the acquisition of Dart in October 2014. This acquisition gave us additional acreage of strategic importance in the key UK shale basins and a significant new partner, GDF, with a carried work programme across a number of licences.”
In India, Dart commenced activity in 2006, as Arrow Energy International. It obtained three blocks in the CBM III bidding round and two additional blocks in the CBM IV bidding round in 2010.
But later it relinquished the three blocks awarded in CBM III round as it faced problems with the local tribal community in one block and technical results showed insufficient gas for a commercial CBM project with regards to the other two blocks.
In one of its blocks, its pilot wells did show a potential oil flow associated with the CBM well. However, it could not continue exploration for oil as it was not permitted according to the CBM Contract.
“We will take a few months to close our operations and exit formally,” said the official.
Tough working conditions in India is behind the company’s failure, say its officials.
Dart joins the list of over half-a-dozen exploration companies like the Italy’s Eni SpA, Australia’s Santos, the UK-based Foresight Group, BHP Billiton Petroleum, Norway’s Statoil ASA and Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA who have quit India in the past few years.
Dart was the only foreign operator active in the Indian coal bed methane (CBM) sector. CBM is a low pressure methane gas, extracted by fracturing coal seams.
“We invested a lot in India. But our investments did not yield good results. Working in India is very tough. It wasn’t a very good experience for a foreign company like ours,” said an official from Dart Energy.
Dart Energy last year surrendered its stake in the CBM blocks of state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
In June 2013, ONGC had offered a 10 to 25 per cent stake in four of its CBM blocks to Dart. Owing to the constant delays in its exploration programmes, Dart said it had decided to exit the country, surrendering its interests in various blocks that it held stakes in.
In 2014, Dart re-focused its strategy, seeking opportunities to farm-out and/or sell or exit all of its activities in India.
Last October, Dart Energy was acquired by UK’s IGas Energy Plc, a leading onshore oil and gas exploration and production operator. The company still holds holds 10 per cent in an Assam block (AS-CBM-2008/IV) with Oil india, which holds 90 per cent stake and the operator of the block. It is not optimistic about the prospects of the block.
IGas Energy in its annual report said, “We completed the acquisition of Dart in October 2014. This acquisition gave us additional acreage of strategic importance in the key UK shale basins and a significant new partner, GDF, with a carried work programme across a number of licences.”
In India, Dart commenced activity in 2006, as Arrow Energy International. It obtained three blocks in the CBM III bidding round and two additional blocks in the CBM IV bidding round in 2010.
But later it relinquished the three blocks awarded in CBM III round as it faced problems with the local tribal community in one block and technical results showed insufficient gas for a commercial CBM project with regards to the other two blocks.
In one of its blocks, its pilot wells did show a potential oil flow associated with the CBM well. However, it could not continue exploration for oil as it was not permitted according to the CBM Contract.
“We will take a few months to close our operations and exit formally,” said the official.