State run Oil & Natural Gas Corp has said that Essar, Great Eastern Energy and Australia based Dart Energy have evinced interest in picking up a significant stake in its coal bed methane blocks located in Bokaro, Jharkhand and Raniganj.

Mr AK Hazarika chairman of ONGC told ET that "ONGC's exploration team has invited equity participation from various companies to partner in our coal-bed methane blocks in Bokaro, Jharkhand and Raniganj.”

Mr Hazarika said the company wants to rope in partners with experience in the region. He added that "We are looking to offload equity in these blocks as we are keen to partner with experienced companies that have both technical expertise and local know-how to tackle complex land allocation issues.”

A senior ONGC official added that "In addition to Great Eastern and Essar, Dart Energy has also evinced a strong interest and ONGC will be taking a final decision by the end of this week.”

The official said that ONGC is expected to take a final decision by the end of this week. Coal bed methane is an eco-friendly natural gas stored in coal seams used mainly as industrial fuel.

The three interested parties already hold CBM blocks in India. Great Eastern is the first company to start commercial production of coal-bed methane gas in the southern part of Raniganj. Essar has also made a commercial success in an adjacent block in Raniganj. Dart Energy has two CBM blocks, one each in Assam and Satpura (Madhya Pradesh).

(Sourced from ET)