ONGC feels the heat in Assam row OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Oil on the boil New Delhi, May 17: ONGC has been forced to shut down all its oilfields in Assam with AASU activists driving the oil major's crew out of the operational areas. The state government has refused to intervene.
According to an SoS received at the ONGC corporate headquarters here, the company's operations ground to a halt at 5 am on Monday. The fields that have been badly affected are Geleki, Lakwa, Rudrasagar, where shift crews were not permitted to go and operating crews were made to shut down operations and move out. When ONGC contacted the local authorities for help they expressed their inability to intervene for fear of confrontation. Several ONGC wells in Assam are on artificial lift technology as the fields are ageing and the wells cannot produce on their own. These wells may never be revived when operations are resumed, resulting in irrecoverable loss of production as well as revenues to the state. ONGC produces about 1.55 million tonnes of oil and 467 million standard cubic metres of gas per day in Assam. The company's oil and gas production in Assam has been severely affected due to the 100-hour bandh spearheaded by All Assam Students Union (AASU). Industries in Assam which draw gas from ONGC are also going to be badly affected due to the disruption in supplies. ONGC personnel are trying to convince the AASU representatives on the adverse effect of closing down wells on the reservoir and the safety precautions that need to be taken. ONGC has sent a formal request to the state to help it in maintaining normal operations, safety of personnel, installations and machinery. ONGC pays over Rs 200 crore every year as royalty to the Assam government. The figure for 2003-04 was Rs 211.74 crore. Any decline in the output will also lead to a reduction in royalty. ONGC has also drawn up a Rs 2,000-crore plan to revive and rejuvenate its oilfields in Assam over a four-year period, beginning this year. With the kind of nasty turn that the current bandh has taken, the company could be forced to scale down such plans. ONGC is the biggest employer in the state and senior company officials are of the view that AASU activists do not have any case for resorting to such strong-arm tactics. In fact, ONGC is reported to be overstaffed in Assam and is under pressure to induct more people for whom there is no work. The oil major spends over Rs 1.50 crore every year on various social responsibility initiatives, which is the highest by any company in Assam. _______________________________________________ Assam mailing list Assam@pikespeak.uccs.edu http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/listinfo/assam Mailing list FAQ: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/assam/assam-faq.html To unsubscribe or change options: http://pikespeak.uccs.edu/mailman/options/assam
