GUWAHATI: In the wake of fire breaking out at Baghjan oil field of Oil India Limited (OIL) in Tinsukia district, the oil PSU in a statement issued this evening stated that while the clearing operations were on at the well site, the well caught fire.
“There is no casualty reported. A fire fighter from ONGCL sustained minor injuries. Fire tenders are at the site controlling the spread of fire,” the OIL informed.
“While chalking out the plans with ALERT team from Singapore this morning, they presented alternate options which also included “Capping Stack Guide Rail” mechanism. ONGC & OIL teams had made considerable progress with the “Capping Stack Guide Rail” mechanism and it was decided to proceed with the same. However, the current situation would be brought under control by the experts,” the OIL said.
Meanwhile, in view of violent protests around the well site, the OIL has requested Assam chief secretary and Tinsukia district administration for maintaining law & order so that the experts are allowed to enter the site and start the well control operations. All officials of OIL / ONGC are being evacuated from nearby areas. Once the situation is normal, the experts from ALERT and the staff of OIL / ONGC will move to the site.
Post fire incident, emergency meetings was held with ALERT team and they expressed it was now a safe environment for working and are confident that the situation can be controlled and the well can be capped safely.
“The situation demands arrangement of large quantities of water, installation of high discharge pumps and removal of debris. All the operations as per ALERT will take about 4 weeks. Efforts will be made to reduce this time frame as much as possible,” the OIL said.