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OIL production affected by agitations

By Ron Duarah

DIBRUGARH, June 17 - Various agitation programmes in different oil installations of Oil India Limited (OIL) have severely affected crude oil and gas production of the company. These agitation programmes include work stoppage and blockades, resorted to by different student and youth organisations. Due to agitation programmes, there was production loss of 288 metric tonnes of crude oil and 0.44 MMSCM (four lakh forty thousand cubic metres) of natural gas as reported till end of day on June 16, 2020. Cumulative production loss since May 27 due to bandhs and blockades is 6132 metric tonnes of crude oil, 7.97 MMSCM (seventy nine lakh seventy thousand cubic metres) of natural gas. These figures are for the production losses within the Tinsukia revenue district alone.

OIL has been reporting these production losses every day since last week, hoping the student and youth groups would call off their agitation programmes. However this is not happening, and it appears the OIL strategy of its human resources and business development (HR & BD) department has not borne fruit. The agitating groups are not budging and are firm with their long charter of demands. It is also true that if OIL were to accede to all the demands, the company might as well shut shop and call it a day.

Members of the public in Tinsukia, leaders of native community organisations have questioned OIL why the company is not telling the people of the 90,000 cubic metres of gas and condensates that is being lost to the huge Baghjan flame every day since June 9. It is estimated that more than a million cubic metres of gas has been wasted in the flames in the uncontrollable 200 feet tall flame at the Baghjan oilwell site codenamed BGN-5.

By now it is apparent that the oilwell fire will continue to burn for atleast 20 more days. By the time the flame is controlled, almost three to four million cubic metres of precious natural gas would have been burnt away. A colossal wastage of national resources by any standards. In monetary terms, this could well run into thousands of crores of rupees, by including the collateral losses due to the fire. OIL�s cash reserves are sure to take a severe beating due to the Baghjan catastrophe of 2020.

At the oilwell site at Baghjan, civil works of fixing up plant and equipment to control and douse the fire continues. Simultaneously, professional organisations have been hired by OIL to assess the air and noise pollution, seismic tremors and water quality examination works.

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