The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) today said that it is not carrying out exploration of shale gas or coal bed methane in the Cauvery Basin and does not have any such plan.

In a press release, it dismissed apprehensions raised by farmers that coal bed methane and shale gas were sought to be extracted at Neduvasal.

The statement said that it is the need of the hour that agriculturalists, activists, public and all the stakeholders are imparted with the right information on the operations of ONGC to counter the spread of unwarranted rumours and fears. For the past 50 years the Cauvery Asset of ONGC has been carrying out exploration and production of oil and natural gas from deep sedimentary basins ranging from 6,000 to 15,000 feet.

The ONGC has established 31 oil and natural gas fields in Tamil Nadu and they were currently producing 840 tonnes of oil and 28 lakh cubic metres of natural gas a day. It has also restored lands acquired for exploratory wells which are subsequently found dry and abandoned to near original condition. So far, 21 such wells have been restored.