SOUVENIR COMMITTEE - Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany

Training Programme on “PALYNOLOGY IN FOSSIL FUEL EXPLORATION”
[ September 10-17, 2012 ]
EXPLORING FRONTIERS
U C PRADHAN
DGM (G), Frontier Basin, ONGC, Dehradun
E-mail: ucp6@rediffmail.com
Ever increasing global energy demand, mounting impediments in finding resources and escalating cost &
technology intensive exploration for hydrocarbons along with fluctuating markets and geopolitical
uncertainties are only few of the reasons responsible for widening gap between demand and supply of oil
and gas. With not so sufficient support from alternative sources of energy, eyes are naturally turned to
exploring frontier areas. The storehouse of a lion’s share of India’s prognosticated hydrocarbon resources
Frontier basins are poorly explored; represent logistically difficult and diverse tectonic set-ups with high
risk & uncertain reward. Frontier basins under active exploration are in Himalayan foothills, Ganga
Basin, Vindhyan Basin. Other significant onland frontier areas are Satpura Basin, South Rewa Basin,
Punjab Plains, Jammu-Punchh belt, Trans Himalayan corridor, and Purnea, Rajmahal, Damodar, Satpura,
South Rewa, and Pranhita-Godavari and sub trappean basins. Offshore frontiers include Bengal Fan,
Indus Fan, Deep and Ultradeep areas of the east and west coasts. Ascertaining the quality and quantity of
source rocks, reservoirs and effective regional seal and other elements of petroleum system pose a key
geotechnical challenge. Complex geological setup and presence of basalts on surface and igneous dykes
and sills in subsurface introduce serious challenges in seismic data acquisition and imaging. Special
recording spread and source-receiver pattern for improved signal-noise ratio, multi component surveys,
and wide angle seismic data with frequent user-processor interaction during processing yield better
seismic API results. Non-seismic methods including electro-logging provide adequate support for better
understanding the basins. Basin centered gas, biogenic gas, Coal Bed Methane Underground Coal
Gasification, gas hydrates, tight gas, shale gas, heavy oil, gas to liquid are unconventional energy
resources. Synergistic conceptualization in national perspective and committed involvement of oil
companies, scientific institutions and universities will be of vital significance in unlocking Frontier
resources.
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow
34