SIVASAGAR, Aug 28 - Geleki Toilyakhetra Suraksha Vikas Mancha, an umbrella organisation of 19 different social and youth organisations, has protested the ONGC�s stance over the move of the Ministry of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons to hand over the Geleki oil field to Schlumberger Overseas SA for enhancing production from the mature field terming it as a ploy to privatise the PSU in phases.
The Mancha has been spearheading a movement to stall alleged government plans to privatise aging oil fields in Assam against the interests of the local communities and the state, a press release issued at Nazira said. The Mancha has been collecting signatures from thousands of people of the district from August 16 against the move and is planning to intensify its movement to put pressure on the Central Government to desist from implementing the contract.
The leaders of the Mancha � Purnakanta Borgohain, Kanak Gogoi, Pranjal Borthakur, Pranjal Baruah, Birinchi Borgohain, Prabin Borua and Madan Barua alleged that ONGC Assam Asset�s clarification in a press release that it will continue to own the Geleki oil field while it will be assisted by Schlumberger Overseas SA through a �Production Enhancement Contract� only for improved production is part of a larger conspiracy. It said that ONGC authority did not have a formal meeting with the Mancha prior to giving out the press release and it is very surprising that Geleki, one of the most high yielding oil fields in the country now is being sought to be given to a private company which allegedly does not have a good track record with the Assam Asset itself.
ONGC Assam Asset in a meeting with several organisations in the office of the SDO Civil, Rajiv Thapa on August 21 reiterated that it is committed to the service of the nation and hence will never hand over any property to private sector. The ONGC authority also clarified that ONGC signed the Summary Of Understanding (SoU) with Schlumberger Overseas SA to enhance production, strengthen surface and sub-surface activities by inducing state of the art technology provided by Schlumberger, a global leader in the sector. Further, it is part of the Hydrocarbon Vision 2030 for NE India rolled out by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Government of India and the contract was signed in presence of Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Dharmendra Pradhan, MoS, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Dinesh K Saraf, CMD, ONGC and other dignitaries on December 7, 2017, the release said.
