56 blocks identified for Shale gas production

The petroleum minister further informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply that under the first phase of assessment of shale gas and oil, exploration and exploitation, at present, 56 Petroleum Exploration Lease (PEL)/ Petroleum Mining Lease (PML) blocks (ONGC 50, and OIL – 6) have been identified by National Oil Companies (NOCs). These blocks are located in the states of Assam (7 blocks), Arunachal Pradesh (1 block), Gujarat (28 blocks), Rajasthan (1 block), Andhra Pradesh (10 blocks) and Tamil Nadu (9 blocks).  ONGC has drilled one well where coring has been completed. In addition, ONGC has collected cores from another 7 wells.