GUWAHATI: The snubbing unit brought from Canada finally reached the Baghjan blowout well site of Oil India Limited (OIL) late Wednesday evening even as its entry was briefly hindered by a blockade staged by a group of residents over “non-payment” of compensation.
The blockade was however lifted following the intervention of the Tinsukia district administration and OIL authorities.
The snubbing unit comprises equipment weighing 59,000 kg, which was brought to Kolkata from Canada by an An124 (Antonov) aircraft, the largest civilian transport aircraft in the world.
The aircraft landed at the Kolkata Airport on the night of October 21, and thereafter, the equipment primarily comprising a snubbing truck mounted with a snubbing unit for “killing” the blowout well, was brought to the site by road.
Well ‘killing’ involves injecting artificial mud into the well at very high pressure to fill up the well and stop the gas from coming out.
Sources said that Piston Well Services Inc. of Alberta (Canada) would be conducting the emergency snubbing services at the blowout well for Alert Disaster Control of Singapore.
Meanwhile, OIL on Thursday began preliminary arrangements before it actually proceeded to “to kill the well”.
“Arrangements for placing the snubbing unit are in progress with all equipment and accessories related to the snubbing operation in place at the site. 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,” a statement by OIL on Thursday afternoon said.
“Meanwhile, the flow of gas from the well to nearby early production set-up (EPS) at Baghjan is being maintained with all operating parameters within the desired level and safety measures in place,” it said.
In regard to the payment of compensation to the families affected by the June 9 fire at Baghjan, OIL authorities said that on the basis of the interim recommendations of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) and discussions with the Tinsukia deputy commissioner, till date, an amount of Rs 36.90 crore has been released to the impacted families.
OIL however said that the final assessment report of the affected families, the survey of which was carried out by the office of Tinsukia deputy commissioner under the directive of the NGT, was yet to be received.