The imminent completion of a critical natural gas pipeline connecting the northern and eastern Indian states has prompted Essar Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Limited (EOGEPL) to firm up plans to double coal-bed methane (CBM) gas production from its existing Raniganj coal blocks in West Bengal in the east. EOGEPL will ramp up CBM production from 0.45-million metric standard cubic meters a day (mmscmd) to 1 mmscmd, making it the largest producer of the gas from any single coal block in the country.
