OIL brings snubbing unit from Canada to control Baghjan blowout

The fire at the Baghjan natural gas well in Assam's Tinsukia district has been raging on for nearly four months now

Oil India Limited (OIL) brought a sophisticated snubbing unit from Canada to douse the fire at the Baghjan natural gas well in Assam's Tinsukia district, that continues to rage on for nearly four months now.

OIL spokesperson, Tridiv Hazarika said on Thursday that the snubbing unit from Calgary, Canada reached Baghjan on Wednesday and the process to place the snubbing unit was underway.

"It is expected that after completion of all necessary pre-operation activities, the well killing operation by the snubbing unit will commence within the next couple of days. Meanwhile, the flow of gas from the well to nearby Early Production Setup (EPS) at Baghjan is being maintained with all operating parameters within desired level and safety measures in place," he said.

The gas well blew out on May 27 and caught fire on June 9. Two firefighters and a young electrical engineer died in efforts to douse the fire. The fire in the well, however, could not be doused even after nearly four months despite efforts by experts from the US, Canada and Singapore.

Compensation

Hazarika said while the final assessment report of the impacted families, which has been carried out by the office of Deputy Commissioner, Tinsukia and directive of National Green Tribunal was yet to be received, OIL released an amount of Rs 36.90 crores as compensation to the impacted people, based on interim assessment. This included an interim relief of Rs 10.93 crores to 3000 families who had stayed in relief camps. Moreover, an amount of Rs 25 lakhs was paid to each of the 12 families whose houses have suffered the most due to the fire on June 9 and Rs 10 lakhs to 57 families whose houses were also damaged during the fire. Another 561 families whose houses or whose standing crops and horticulture have been partially damaged received Rs 2.5 lakhs each.

Impact on production

A total of 46,786 metric tonnes of crude oil and 124.15 million metric st. cubic meter of natural gas have been lost respectively till date as a result of protests and blockades in and around Baghjan area since May 27, due to the blowout, Hazarika said.