Gas production at Essar’s CBM block in West Bengal crosses 0.8 mmscmd

Gas production at Essar’s Raniganj East coal bed methane (CBM) block in West Bengal has crossed 0.8 million metric standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) and is expected to shortly reach 1 mmscmd mark following the commissioning of the Urja Ganga gas pipeline, the company said in a statement.

“The unavoidable delay in the GAIL Urja Ganga trunk line caused numerous challenges for us. However, steady efforts and technological applications to ramp up gas production to double the production and cross 0.8 mmscmd has brought us back on track,” said Pankaj Kalra, CEO of Essar Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Ltd (EOGEPL). “Our next milestone remains 1.0 mmscmd and we are putting concerted effort to reach it at the earliest’.’

The laying of the Urja Ganga pipeline has resolved evacuation challenges that had forced some fields to produce below potential.


EOGEPL has so far invested more than Rs 4,000 crore in the exploration and development of the Raniganj block. The company operates around 350 wells in the block currently.