India’s Hydrocarbon Outlook 2024 75 A Report on Exploration & Production Activities 6. GANGA-PUNJAB BASIN Ganga-Punjab is a Category III basin, implying that the basin has entirely undiscovered inplace, that calls for intense exploration for a potential discovery. The geographical area of the basin partially overlaps with the state(s) of Bihar, Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Source: DGH Internal Source: DGH Internal The Indo-Gangetic plain, which is the extensive alluvial plain of Ganga, Indus and Brahmaputra rivers and their tributaries, separates the Himalayan range from peninsular India. Ganga valley and Punjab plain are the integral part of Indo-Gangetic plain, representing the river Ganga and Indus catchment area respectively. Ganga-Punjab basin is covered by thick alluvium, which conceals the pre-collisional (Indo-Eurasian plates) Proterozoic and postcollisional Tertiary records. Post-collision flexuring of the Indian lithosphere and thrustfold loading produced the Himalayan peripheral foreland in Early Miocene. The basin expanded during Middle Miocene and attained its present configuration in Late Quaternary. The exploration in the Ganga-Punjab basin started in late 1950. M/s ONGC started exploration in the year 1978-79 in the Gandak depression of the Ganga sub-basin. M/s Cairn and M/s OIL carried out seismic surveys in the Kashipur block of Sarda depresion. The basin has close analogy with Vindhyan basin and Duarmara field of Assam Shelf. In Ganga sub-basin two speculative plays have been identified i.e. Neo-Proterozoic unconventional play and Middle Miocene conventional play. Whereas in Punjab sub-basin only one hypothetical play i.e. Middle Miocene Play is envisaged as only Tertiary sediments, resting directly over metamorphic basements. Ganga sub-basin Neo-Proterozoic play is unconventional tight gas play like Vindhyan play. Middle Miocene play (Lower Siwalik) has been considered as a conventional play. Neo-Proterozic shale are found to be organic rich with TOC 0.41-2.96%, while shales of Siwaliks have reached early window of hydrocarbon generation but are expected to be within the matured oil window in the sub-thrust area. The
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE0OTM0OQ==