OIL Says Three Foreign Experts Have Reached Gas Well Blowout Site in Assam's Tinsukia

PSU major Oil India Limited (OIL) on Monday said three experts from a Singaporean firm have reached the natural gas well at Baghjan from where gas is "uncontrollobaly" flowing out since May 27.

The oil exploration major said in a statement, experts of Singapore-based Alert Disaster Control reached Duliajan town, the field headquarters of the OIL, during the early hours on Monday.

The team will assist the public sector undertaking to plug the blowout in the gas well in Tinsukia district.

"The experts were briefed by representatives of OIL about the progress in the well control operation.

"After preliminary discussion and de-briefing session, the experts along with the OIL team left for Baghjan well at 12 noon," it said.

Meanwhile, gas is "uncontrollably" flowing out from the well since May 27.

The OIL claimed that the experts complimented the preparatory works and said that based on their experience of handling over a thousand blowouts across 135 countries under different conditions, they are confident of controlling the well "at the earliest".

"They emphasised that safety of the local people in the area and the technical team working at the well site will be their prime concern while carrying out the operations," the statement said.

On the status of repair works, OIL said both vertical and horizontal lift mechanism of the hydraulically driven mechanical transporter to be used for the well control operation has been completed and tested.

"The final assembling process is in progress," the company said.

Arrangements for creating a water umbrella for the well control operation are going on, digging of water reservoir and preparation of placement of high capacity water pumps are also progressing.

A major blowout took place at the natural gas well of OIL at Baghjan, next to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, forcing the administration to evacuate thousands of people living nearby due to spewing of natural gas and condensate droplets.

The Tinsukia district administration on Sunday ordered a magisterial enquiry into the reported death of five persons due to the gas leakage from the well.

The PSU major said it has appointed an environment consultant to assess the impact of the blowout on the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and its nearby areas in the district.

Earlier, pictures of carcasses of a river dolphin and fish in Maguri Motapung Beel, adjacent to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park and about 1.5 km from the site, went viral on social media.

Following this, the Assam Forest department had issued a notice to OIL on May 29 seeking details of the incident.