ONGC sees natural gas output rising

ONGC is expecting to double natural gas production in the country with underground coal gassification (UCG) project.

Subir Raha, chairman and managing director of ONGC, said 200 million cubic meter per day could be produced by this process.

The project is at the pilot stage now and the commercial production will start by 2007-08. At present, natural gas production is pegged at 100 million cubic meter per day with ONGC having a share of 85 per cent.

"UCG has a bright future with India having 400 billion tonne of coal reserves. The production would be sustainable over a long period of time," Raha said in Kolkata. He, however, declined to comment on the estimated investment saying it would be premature to comment on numbers.

ONGC will be teaming up with Coal India Ltd (CIL) for the project across the country.

The pilot project will start this fiscal in eastern India. CIL is believed to have asked for 40 per cent stake in the project. Raha said holding pattern was under negotiation. ONGC has already tied up with a Russian outfit, Stochinsky Institute, for UCG.

The institute is one of the oldest in the world working on this process. A Russian team has already visited India in June. The company also has set up a special team for this project.

The gas extracted from UCG would be low pressure, ideal for generation of power. In case rich gas is found, methanol, DME could be extracted from them.