Guwahati, Thursday, February 21, 2008
Search for next OIL CMD begins
From Ron Duarah
DIBRUGARH, Feb 20 – Union Minister for Development of North-East Region
(DoNER), Mani Shankar Aiyar stirred a hornet’s nest on Monday when he made an
impassioned plea to the Oil India Limited (OIL) management to seek the
cooperation of locals and commence the Brahmaputra river-bed seismic survey.
Aiyar was speaking in chaste Hindustani at the inaugural ceremony of the golden
jubilee celebrations of OIL at Duliajan on Monday evening. He made a reference
to the Brahmaputra river-bed survey while responding to a comment by MP Dr Arun
Kumar Sarma that OIL should focus on surveys and oilfield development works on
the north bank of the Brahmaputra. Aiyar said: “There is a demand for surveys
in the north bank, oil exploration work has come of age in the south bank of
the Brahmaputra; this must mean that the river itself must hold a lot of
promise, so why don’t we explore the river-bed soon?”
With OIL CMD Mulk Raj Pasrija due to retire from service later this year, a
race of sorts has already begun for the coveted post. Aiyar may not have had
this race in mind, but he did mention in very clear terms that he considers
Vinod Kumar Sibal his “guru”. Sibal is the director general of hydrocarbons in
the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He was earlier a general manager
with OIL, and many believe he will throw his hat and be in the race for OIL
CMD. The other name for the post of CMD that is in the reckoning of petroleum
industry observers is that of Nayan Moni Borah, presently director (operations)
of OIL, and one of the seniormost officials of the company.
Dwelling at length on the need for finding new oil reserves, Aiyar said he is
aware that some environment conservation lobbyists have expressed their
reservations on seismic river-bed surveys. The nature lovers’ fears include
potential danger to marine life in the event of explosions to be carried out
during the course of the proposed surveys. He counselled appropriate safeguards
to address the concerns of the environmentalists, and stressed that the
question of energy security of the country cannot be allowed to remain hanging
just because some people have their reservations.
The DoNER minister, who was earlier Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas,
said he refuses to be carried away by sloganeering by certain groups that have
been claiming that crude oil reserves would last another ‘n’ number of years.
“We were under the impression that crude oil and natural gas should be
plentiful in the sub-Himalayan region, but India’s largest oilfield is Bombay
High, in the Arabian Sea. Then our explorers have found huge crude oil and gas
reserves in the Godavari basin towards the Bay of Bengal. I feel we can
continue to stumble across places where hydrocarbons are in plentiful supply in
the most unlikely of places,” he said.
While he held out much hope for the petroleum technocrats in a dismal crude oil
production scenario in the country’s North East, the OIL CMD, MR Pasrija said
he is hopeful of the company achieving the magic figure of seven million tonne
of crude oil a year from its operations in the country by the year 2012. The
company produces 3.7 million tonne of crude oil a year from its Assam and
Arunachal Pradesh operations. He is also much hopeful of significant natural
gas finds from Mizoram, where the company will be operating from later this
year. OIL is set to acquire 21 new exploration areas under the New Exploration
Licensing Policy. Pasrija is pinning his hopes on a quantum jump in oil and gas
production figures, once drilling starts in all the new blocks.
Many congratulations to the dynamic Mr V K Sibal for such lovely words from the
esteemed DONER Minister.
Muktikam Phukan
Deputy Director (NR)
Petroleum Conservation Research Association
Sanrakshan Bhawan,10, Bhikaiji Cama Place,New Delhi 110066
Ph: +91 11 26198856 Ext 385, Mob: +91 9818598565
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] , [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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