SIVASAGAR, June 13: Gas is flowing uncontrollably for the second day in a row on Friday from a crude well of energy major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Assam’s Sivasagar district after a blowout, officials said.
While ONGC has begun a detailed probe to find out the reason for the blowout on Thursday, an official of the state-run Maharatna company told PTI that the process to control the well is progressing.
“The situation remains the same as yesterday. The well has not caught fire yet and no one is injured in the incident. All emergency services have been pressed in the area,” he added.
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The incident took place at Well No RDS 147A of Rig No SKP 135 of Rudrasagar oil field of ONGC, located in Bhatiapar. A private firm SK Petro Services was operating the well on behalf of the state-run Maharatna company.
ONGC in a statement said gushes of gas were observed from the well on Thursday during servicing operations at the unit.
“Upon detection, ONGC immediately activated standard safety protocols. The site was promptly secured, and an emergency response team led by the Asset Manager reached the location without delay… the situation is now fully under control,” it added.
Reinforcement teams and technical specialists reached the spot to ensure safe and swift normalisation of the well operations, the statement said.
“ONGC is confident that the situation will be brought back to normal very soon. A detailed investigation has been initiated to ascertain the root cause of the incident,” it added.
The company further said that it remains committed to the highest standards of operational safety, environmental care and community well-being.
“Ensuring the safety of our personnel and the surrounding areas continues to be our utmost priority,” it added.
Issuing a second statement, ONGC later in the day said that efforts are underway to control the continuous gush of gas from the well.
“The Crisis Management Team of ONGC is on the job, laying out the necessary equipment for bringing the well under control. The required fluids for the subdue operation have been made ready and the next step in the operation is expected to start at daybreak tomorrow,” it added.
In view of the presence of gas, entry to the location is being restricted to the concerned operational personnel only, the company said.
Another official of ONGC said that it is an old crude well without production and a perforation job was going on for zone transfer at the time of blowout.
“It is a kind of servicing of the well. The production was supposed to start from a new zone after the perforation job. At the time of the incident, the logging perforation operation was going on. Suddenly gas started coming out in an uncontrolled manner immediately after the perforation, leading to the blowout,” he added.
Currently, a well killing job is in progress, while some locals in the nearby areas have decided to leave their homes temporarily fearing a blast from the blowout site, the official said.
This ONGC incident reminded people of the worst industrial disaster of the Northeast in 2020, when an OIL well blowout took away the lives of three employees of the PSU major and injured several others.
The well no 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district spewed gas uncontrollably for 173 days since May 27 and it caught fire on June 9, 2020.
In a multi-agency effort, the damaged gas well at Baghjan in Assam was ‘killed’ and the blaze was fully doused on November 15, followed by abandoning of the well on December 3 in 2020 after completing all steps to control it.
