JORHAT (ASSAM): The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on Friday appealed to the Nagaland government and its people to help the organisation resume oil exploration in the state.
Production from Champak oil field in Nagaland was 150 tons per day till its operation was stopped in 1994 due to insurgent activities in the region.
Sudhir Kumar Jain, ONGC’s Basin Manager of Assam and Assam-Arakan Basin, said, “The ONGC is in constant touch with the state government and the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and some social organisations of the state also intervening but nothing concrete has been achieved so far.” ONGC had signed an MoU with the Nagaland government and discussions were on to ensure that suitable operating conditions could be made available for better, secure and safer operation by the undertaking.
“We are committed to explore the area as Nagaland has huge potential of hydrocarbons which will greatly benefit the people of Nagaland,” Jain said. The ONGC has also found oil in Mizoram and one well was operating in that state, he said.
Assam and Assam Arakan Basin has got a total 35 wells of which eleven wells were in Tripura and rest in Assam which include Nazira in Sivasagar, Bakajan in Jorhat, Khorahat area near Silchar.
As a long term investment strategy, ONGC would also invest in the nuclear energy sector through its Nuclear Power Corporation, Jain added. (PTI)
