I’ll have to look if sediments beneath flood basalts elsewhere are being actively explored, like Karoo basalts (S. Africa), Afar basalts (Ethopia). I do not know. In $.60/ barrel world, every place is a game.

“Why would an impact site be a good hydrocarbon reserve? The trapping / capping effect of the basalts on naturally occurring sediments, or some other principle I’m unfamiliar with?”

Only trapping/ capping by basalts as you rightly said. Also, you have something unexplored because it cannot drilled that easily so there is a possibility of huge “pristine” discoveries. I think they are just new frontiers – like ultra-deep Gulf of Mexico in $60/ barrel world.

I can’t seem to find anything on the internet about the actual geology of the area that indicates that the basaltic intrusions may have petrochemical deposits. Are there traps with similar morphology elsewhere that make for promising prospecting? And what’s the company that owns the rights to the area, apart from the Indian government?

Finally, at least one article I’ve found indicates that the other likely K-T event crater sites (Chicxulub crater in Mexico, Boltysh crater in Ukraine, Silverpit crater in the North Sea, etc) are good hydrocarbon producing sites (The article actually says “among the best in the world”). What’s the physical science behind that? Why would an impact site be a good hydrocarbon reserve? The trapping / capping effect of the basalts on naturally occurring sediments, or some other principle I’m unfamiliar with?

Not in the strictist sense. It is possible (only within a realm of possibility) that the sediments (the sediments that were deposited before the basalt/ igneous eruption) buried beneath the Deccan traps (slag heap, as you put it) may have oil and gas. However, there is no proof and right now it is just an idea. There are some preliminary imaging (geophysical) surveys underway to determine the geology of the area in detail to even evaluate such a hypothesis. However, it is very difficult to even image clearly beneath flood basalts (igneous rocks) – what to say about evaluating the fossil fuel potential?

The closest analogy comes to my mind is the new oil exploration work in deeper sedimentary deposits beneath the basalts in North Sea. However, North Sea has proven fossil fuel reserves, and they are looking for new ones and is quite a different scenario in terms of geology.

I think Mani Shankar Aiyar wants companies to have a closer look with fresher eyes – that’s pretty much it.

Some info, if anyone is interested at all anymore, since this topic is cold as a witch’s tit:

The Deccan Traps is a the largest volcanic geographic feature in the world. Its age coincides with the extinction of the dinosaurs to some degree, leading quite a few people to infer some level of causality: massive eruptions, meteor impact, etc.

But I have yet to find anything anywhere suggesting that there would be huge petrochemical deposits in that big igneous slag-heap. Has anyone else?

Sure, it will. To some degree cultures like India have been using alternate energy much before – cow dung in villages. Paper bags are made of old newspapers, use of cloth bags for daily use, and glass bottles have been used again and again – recycling on a larger scale existed there much before here. On the other hand, a few hours in Delhi – one knows how energy is wasted in India and things like emissions are out of control.

I later corrected myself – I was talking about oil find by Cairn in Rajasthan. I worte some of my ideas on energy last night on my blog – please read.

I will be the first guy to say they need to aggresively survey Deccan traps and Bengal fan. I also have to credit to Mani Shankar Aiyar to bring energy issue on the forefront and at least confronting the problem. According to India Today, his ministry was running into road blocks from Natwar Singh’s foreign ministry and often Manmohan Singh had to intervene.

Countries like Japan and Russia with long history of mutual distrust and some level of dispute are in the process of making grand alliances for energy, and India has not done much beyond talking.

Kush, you kill me man!

The Cairn gas field – is this the offshore field that was being hyped some time back?

Nigel Lawson (former UK Chancellor of Exchequer) was on BBC’s Hardtalk last night and had some interesting things to say about energy policy in India and China. Major point – the politics of Kyoto and renewable energy poorly reflect realities on the ground in terms of demand and efficiency in India and China.

Personally – based on what I’ve been hearing from friends/entrepeneurs in Pune/Chennai – I think alternate/renewable energy sources might (have to) end up playing a larger role in the Indian economy than it has so far in the US.

Deccan trap type exploration in many ways is similar to new exploration work in sub-basalts in North Sea.

Also, remember oil and gas politics is always dominated by national oil companies. Saudi Aramco is five times bigger than Exxon-Mobil. We thought Exxon-Mobil was Godzilla.

More later….

I am here. I have been quite busy for last three-four weeks. Also, I was in SF for a meeting and just came back.

I’ll write my view once I slept from yesterday’s party on O’Farell street.

I personally think Mani Shankar Aiyar has lost his cabbage. There maybe oil beneath Deccan traps but I have not seen any evidence for giant oil fields similar to Saudi Arabia. Oil men are prone to day dreaming and that is how they make investors invest money – sometimes it works and does wonders but do not take them too seriously.

Also, there has been some privatization in oil and gas exploration in India – only some. Reliance Energy has very strong presence (I have lot of friends working there). Crain Energy from Canada discovered a new gas field recently. ONGC being privatized was on the cards but has been put on back burner due to colation realities of NDA.

More later……….spoiler (I think India’s energy policy is still in dark ages compared to USA, Europe, Japan, and China……China is squeezing India out in new frontier areas).

Alternate energy……there is a huge DOE funded project in India (last year Science magazine on Hydrogen Economy discussed it). However, they will be more novetly acts for another 30-40 years. Let’s not count them as solution yet.

Here in Bangalore, there are quite a few Reva electric cars, and my friends say that their tribe’s increasing. I also see solar-powered traffic lights, heating systems etc all around.

Did you know that the state of Tamil Nadu has a huge wind energy effort? One of the most exhilarating sights during my travels in South India were these wind farms stretching for miles and miles on either side of the highway.

Dhaavak, my blog is here. I’ve managed to put up one entry about the first few days of my trip, but rest will be put up soon, as soon as I get back home early next week.