Kohima: After a gap of almost twenty years, Nagaland Chief Minister T R Zeliang on Monday officially launched the resumption of oil exploration in Champang and Tsori areas under the Wokha district of Nagaland.
The exploration would be carried out by the Metropolitan Oil and Gas Private Limited (MO&GPL), New Delhi.
Speaking at the launching programme organised by Champang and Tsori Village Council at the Champang village, the Chief Minister said that the resumption of oil exploration and related activities in the oil rich area near and under Champang and Tsori will usher in a new era of economic prosperity and development for the people of the two villages as well as improve the economic condition of the entire the state.
Zeliang said earlier the people of the area did not benefit from oil exploration though huge quantity of oil was extracted by the ONGC as there was no proper rule to regulate oil exploration activity in the state.
ONGC had extracted 1.5 million tonnes of oil during its trial production, but only Rs 33 crore was paid to the Nagaland government and Rs 63 crore was paid to landowners as royalty, he said adding if calculated, as per the new Nagaland Petroleum and Natural Gas (NP&NG) Rules, the actual revenue would have been Rs 329 crore.
The Chief Minister said the NP&NG Rules were framed to protect the rights and privilege of the Naga people.
He said MO&GPL was selected by the state government after careful scrutiny and as the company fulfilled all criteria and quoted the highest revenue share of 18 per cent.
The company’s exploration license was liable to be cancelled anytime if its performance was not up to the mark or it failed to start exploration within six months, Zeliang said.(PTI)
