Xanthan gum polymer is a natural, high molecular weight anionic polysaccharide and an important industrial biopolymer produced during the fermentation process using the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris. Due to its unique properties, it is used in a variety of applications such as food and beverages, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, personal care, and cosmetics.

Xanthan in Action

Among these applications, Xanthan gum-based oil well drilling mud dominates a major market share due to its novel properties and environment friendly nature. Acting as a viscosifier and stabilizer, Xanthan gum has excellent tolerance to a wide range of temperatures, pH levels, and salinity, as it increases the mud’s penetration rate and suspension ability for drill cuttings. It can also reduce pressure loss during drilling, stabilize the wellbore, prevent damage to oil formations, and improve the efficiency of drilling, work-over, and completion processes.

The Global Market

The global Xanthan gum market was valued at $963 million in 2021, at $1,037.41 million in 2022, and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.83 per cent to reach $1,515.19 million by 2027.

The increase in the number of oil reserves in recent years, along with the rising oil and gas exploration and drilling activities worldwide, has contributed to this growth. Indian oil companies, such as ONGC and Oil India, alone import around 4,000 metric tonnes of Xanthan gum (XC polymer) annually from China, Indonesia, and the USA. According to recent market rates, India imports Xanthan gum products worth approximately $15 million every year.

TERI’s Breakthrough

In India, there is no production of Xanthan gum products to meet domestic demand. Therefore, TERI intends to develop a bio-based Xanthan gum polymer/viscosifier with the primary goal of producing indigenous drilling polymers under the ‘Make in India’ programme. TERI’s Industrial Biotechnology Area initiated research on bacteria-based Xanthan gum polymer back in 2014. After five years of extensive experimental studies, the TERI Xanthan gum polymer was tested at the Oil India Chemical Lab, Duliajan (Assam), and the ONGC Institute of Drilling Technology, Dehradun (Uttarakhand). It met all the parameters specified for drilling fluids (as per American Petroleum Institute specifications). TERI’s Xanthan gum product has been upscaled and validated under field conditions at ONGC oil wells (three wells: KLDKD, KLDLO, and WDBD at ONGC Ahmedabad Asset) under the ATGC scheme of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. Due to the superior quality of the developed Xanthan gum-based drilling mud chemicals, TERI successfully demonstrated the product in three oil drilling wells and achieved Technology Readiness Level 8 (TRL). To further commercialize the developed product, TERI filed a patent and created a detailed feasibility report (DFR). #

Paul C Jeyaseelan works as a Senior Fellow at TERI; Dr K Nanthakumar works as a Fellow at TERI; Shishram Chahar works as an Associate Fellow at TERI; Dr Veeranna Channashettar works as a Senior Fellow & ADIR at TERI; and Dr Banwari Lal is a Senior Fellow & Senior Director at Environmental & Industrial Biotechnology division, TERI.