GUWAHATI: The Oil India Limited (OIL) said it would move the Gauhati High Court if the Pollution Control Board (PCB) of Assam did not revoke its order that directed the oil exploration major to shut down all its production as well as drilling operations at the Baghjan Oil Field in Assam.
The PCB issued the “closure notice” on Friday taking note of the “blowout” – or uncontrolled emission of natural gas – at an oil well at Baghjan on May 27 and resultant fire there on June 9.
The PCB had sent an e-mail to the OIL on June 11 seeking data that go back to 15 years. On June 17, the OIL had written to the PCB seeking three more days’ time to reply. However, the PCB did not entertain the request and shot off the “closure notice” on June 19.
“We have appealed to the PCB to revoke the order. If we don’t get a response by Monday morning, we will move the Gauhati High Court seeking a stay on the order. Our lawyer is ready in Guwahati,” an OIL spokesman told this newspaper.
He said if the OIL was made to leave the site suddenly, there would be serious immediate implications.
“The blowout oil will remain as it is if we leave the place suddenly. We built temporary facilities at the site to fight the blowout. That is part of the closure operations at the particular well. Secondly, the closure of oil and gas wells is not shutting down a gen set. Closure may take months. We have to kill each well so that there is no danger to surrounding areas. The valve cannot take pressure for a long time and there will be blowout after blowout,” the spokesman said.
He said in the event of a forced shutdown of the nearby oil and gas wells, the pressure would increase leading to a geological challenge to the existing blowout well. And if that goes out of control, then there will be further complications, he said.
“The entire closure will impact the reservoir for all times to come. Nobody will be able to revive production and there will be a huge shortage of gas and crude oil supply. The closure of an oil field is a herculean task due to safety issues. If we shut down the other adjoining wells, there could be a worse impact on the existing blowout well due to excessive pressure underground,” the spokesman added.
The OIL has 17 crude oil wells at the Baghjan Oil Field and the combined production per day is 1,200-kilo litres. The number of OIL’s gas wells at the site is five but production has been disrupted at one due to the blowout and fire. The four others together produce two million metric standard cubic metres of natural gas per day.