Chinese survey report confirms 80.70bn cubic metres natural gas deposit in Dailekh

DAILEKH: A mineral gas deposit of 80.70 billion cubic metres has been confirmed in Jaljale area of Bhairabi Rural Municipality-1 in Dailekh district. The confirmation appears in the final exploration report submitted to the Government of Nepal by the Chinese company China Geological Survey.

Spokesperson at the Department of Mines and Geology, Dharma Raj Khadka, said the storage data was released after a comprehensive study by the Chinese team. In a preliminary report made public earlier, it was estimated that there could be 1.12 billion cubic metres of natural gas in the area, but further testing and the final study have shown a larger quantity than previously estimated, he said.

The Department has said that even if storage is confirmed, information about commercial production and extraction capacity will only be obtained after 'well testing'.

Spokesperson Khadka said, "So far, we have only determined the size of the storage. Until the well testing is carried out, it is not possible to finalise how much gas can be extracted and which technology will be suitable."

He added that in the next phase, other equipment will be used at the drilled site to break the rock or displace the natural gas.

(With inputs from RSS)