DULIAJAN, March 4 � The operation of the nation�s second largest oil major Oil India Limited (OIL) has been almost completely paralyzed since Saturday with the production of crude oil and natural gas severely hit due to the 300-hour OIL operation blockade called by the AASU units of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts protesting gross anomalies in the results declared on Friday to recruit 300 unskilled workmen in the organisation.
The PSU�s Assam oilfield is operating at the minimum level and the production has come down to 50 per cent. The functioning of the registered office of the OIL here has also been completely paralyzed by the picketers since Sunday.
According to OIL sources, the PSU has to under-supply natural gas by 50 per cent for power generation to NEEPCO�s Kathalguri-based AGBPP as well as minimum to Assam Gas Company Ltd that also transports gas to Numaligarh Refinery and very minimum to ASEB�s Namrup Thermal Power Plant. If the blockade continues the under-supply may go down much below in the coming days, they said.
Around 30 installations of OIL has to be shut down completely on Monday. The company, which produces around 7 MMSCUM of natural gas per day is producing only 3 MMSCUM now due to the blockade. And the PSU is currently under-producing around 5,000 MT of crude oil against 9,000 MT per day. The OIL sources quantified the combined direct loss at around Rs 35 crore to Rs 40 crore till Monday.
According to police, around 20-25 motorcycle-borne activists forcefully barged into the compound of Halmari GCS under Tingkhong police station on Sunday afternoon and tried to set it on fire. To prevent them OIL security personnel had to open two rounds of blank fire. Later, police dispersed the activists.
The AASU combine of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia district units has already submitted a memorandum to OIL Chairman and Managing Director and also had a meeting with the Dibrugarh district administration on Monday where the student body has agreed to sit for a discussion at the CMD level and as a fallout, the Duliajan-based OIL registered office has invited AASU for a tripartite meeting involving the AASU, OIL and Dibrugarh district administration at Duliajan on March 8 where OIL Director (HR&BD) Nripen Bharali will be present. The OIL communique to the student body also urged them to suspend the blockade temporarily.
Meanwhile, speaking to this correspondent Dibrugarh district AASU president Madhu Gogoi informed that they are open for discussion and will take part in the meet with their Tinsukia district counterparts. He however said that the blockade will continue till the discussions are held on March 8.
