Tight oil': what is shale and its potential in India

• Cairn Oil & Gas has announced that it is partnering US-based Halliburton to start shale exploration in the Lower Barmer Hill formation, Western Rajasthan.
• The company is also looking to increase the recoverable reserves at its offshore assets by 10 times via enhanced use of technology, in partnership with Halliburton

About Shale Oil:

• Shale oil refers to hydrocarbons that are trapped in formations of shale rock which is a type of sedimentary rock that traps and retains precursors to oil and gas
• The oil is extracted from it for refining.
• Shale oil is a type of unconventional oil found in shale formations that must be hydraulically fractured to extract the oil.
• Shale oil refers to two types of oil: crude oil that is found within shale formations or oil that is extracted from oil shale.

Use of Shale oil:

• Primary uses include heating oil, marine fuel, and the production of various chemicals.

Shale oil reserves in World:

• Countries with the largest amount of technically recoverable shale oil resources include Russia, the United States, China, Argentina, and Libya.
• In the United States, the largest formations providing shale oil are found in the Permian, Eagle Ford, and Bakken Basins.
• The surge in shale oil production in the US has played a key role in turning the country from an importer of crude to a net exporter in 2019.

Difference between Shale oil and Crude oil:

• The key difference between shale oil and conventional crude is that the former, also called ‘tight oil’, is found in smaller batches, and deeper than conventional crude deposits.
• Its extraction requires creation of fractures in oil and gas rich shale to release hydrocarbons through a process called hydraulic fracking.

Pros of Shale Oil:

• Flexibility in oil extraction
• Oil can be stored in wells until oil prices rise

Cons of Shale Oil:

• Negatively impacts the environment:The process of fracking to extract shale oil leads to an immense amount of environmental damage.
• Requires a tremendous amount of water
• Pollutes drinking water in communities
• Causes earthquakes

Prospects of shale oil exploration in India:

• Currently, there is no large-scale commercial production of shale oil and gas in India.
• The prospects of shale oil have been found at the Cambay basin in Gujarat and the Krishna Godavari basin in Andhra Pradesh, but the quantity of oil flow observed in these basins” did not indicate “commerciality” and the general characteristics of Indian shales are quite different from North American ones.