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There are only two producers of coal-bed-methane (CBM) in West Bengal. The Ministry of Petroleum says sequentially total production in the State is on the decline since September. But, neither producer confirms any fall in output.
Great Eastern Energy, the first CBM producer in the country, that was producing a little over 0.3 million metric standard cubic metre gas a day (mmscmd) for quite sometime, denies any decline in fortune.
Essar Oil that has recorded nearly three-fold rise in production over the last year to reach 0.75 mmscmd in July, refused to answer queries. But a source close to the company claims Essar is producing in the range of 0.78 mmscmd and was “rising”. But the production figures published in the Ministry web site tells a different story.
In August, the State produced 34.04 million cubic metres of gas (approximately 1.09 million cubic metres on a daily basis), up from 33.65 million cubic metres in July and 113 per cent more than the corresponding period in the previous year.
The trend changed from September when the total production was marginally down to 33.18 million cubic metres. A-back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests daily production was stagnant at the level of August.
The total production slipped to 30.52 million cubic metres (0.9 mmscmd) in October and 30.38 million cubic metres in November, 70 per cent higher than last year. December figures are not yet available.
The Ministry data underlines that the CBM production growth has come to a halt. And, that’s not good news for the Matix Fertilisers and Chemicals near Panagarh in West Bengal.
Promoted by the Kanodias of Datamatics Group, the 1.3-million-tonne urea plant was idling for nearly three years for want of gas, leading to cost over-run from the originally estimated ₹5,000 crore.
According to corporate filings, Essar group outfit Essar Projects recently invested in cumulative redeemable preference shares worth ₹400 crore in Matix.
In July, Matix started preparations to bring part of the fertiliser facility onstream based on a Essar Oil projection to reach one mmscmd daily production by end 2015 or early 2016. Matix officials could not be contacted.
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