CHENNAI/THANJAVUR: An expert appraisal committee of the Union Environment Ministry (MoEF) has granted an extension of the environment clearance (EC) for Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to carry out exploratory drilling in the Cauvery basin. The clearance will now be valid until August 20, 2023.
ONGC had obtained the clearance for drilling 24 additional wells in PEL Block L-II, encompassing Nagapattinam, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur districts, in June, 2013. Of the 24 wells, 17 have already been drilled. Seven locations would not be drilled due to various reasons such as priority of drilling, resource
allocations, etc.
The company had filed for an extension in June this year, and after a careful consideration, it has been granted by the committee on September 5. The State government, after years of protests, had issued a gazette notification in February this year, declaring the Cauvery delta as a protected zone, prohibiting exploration, drilling and extraction of oil and natural gas, and other hydrocarbons in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and select blocks in Cuddalore and Pudukkottai.
Officials from the Environment Department told TNIE that the current and ongoing oil business will not be disturbed in the notified area, and that no new hydrocarbon project will be allowed. The project in question has both petroleum exploring and mining licences. In the application, T Venu Gopal Swamy, general manager (Cauvery basin) of ONGC said: “L-II block, covering an area of 1,524.08 sq.km, is the most prospective block of the basin and hosts many of the major fields.
The locations for which an extension of EC is being sought are lined up for drilling in the next three years.” He added, “If successful, leads from these wells will be used to identify more locations and aid in further exploration efforts to unlock the yet-to-find potential in the block, and accrete more reserves.” The company said that Geological and Geophysical studies were under progress to analyse the prospects, while separate studies are also being carried out to understand the subsurface conditions, as the new drilling locations are of deeper depths, with high pressure and high temperature conditions.
Meanwhile, farmers and environmental activists have opposed the committee’s recommendation to extend the EC validity. V Sethuraman, State Resource Person of the Tamil Nadu Science Movement (TNSM) told TNIE that with the new revelations that few locations are of deeper depths, there are apprehensions that ONGC may go in for exploration of unconventional energy sources, like shale gas.
Moreover, while the original clearance to drill 24 wells clearly stated that of the 24, one that was proposed in Thanjavur district should not be drilled, ONGC in its fresh application had accounted for all the 24 wells, which also created apprehensions. KKR Lenin, founder and president of the Movement Against Destruction, one of the organisations which spearheaded the anti-methane projects in delta districts, also decried the recommendation. He added that the State government should intervene and urge the Centre not to accept committee’s recommendation.