DGH to invite bids for seven CBM blocks under fifth round of auction
The Directorate General of Hydrocarbons will soon offer seven coal bed methane blocks under the fifth round of bidding with the Central Mine and Planning & Design Institute (CMPDI) finalising the data dossier. The DGH had engaged CMPDI in 2011 to identify CBM blocks and prepare a list for the fifth round.
A DGH official told FE that the blocks would be offered in Singrauli, Sohagpur and Cambay basin areas, which mainly have lignite and bituminous coal. Although the official didn’t disclose the CBM reserves the mines were bearing, he said the CMPDI-prepared data indicated that it would be easier to extract methane from the blocks that would be offered under the fifth round.
The mines, which will be offered for CBM extraction, can be used for coal mining only after 2046.
The DGH has offered 33 blocks covering 17,000 km in four rounds of bidding, but only four blocks have come to production so far. “Of the eight blocks awarded in the first round, only four are producing 2.5 lakh cubic metres of gas per day, much below the expected rate of production. This worries the petroleum and natural gas ministry about the success of the fifth round of CBM bidding,” the official said.
The petroleum and natural gas ministry got the maximum response in the third round of bidding, when it received 54 bids against 10 blocks on offer. But with explorations not getting enough results, the demand for CBM blocks has come
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