Blow-Out At Ongcs Gandhar Oilfield

A blow-out occurred on Sunday at an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation oil well at Gandhar in Bharuch block of the Cambay Basin.

ONGC has launched a massive fire-fighting operation to control the flame.

ONGC officials here confirmed that there has been a blow-out at Gandhar resulting in suspension of production from the well. They were confident that the blow-out would be brought under control shortly. However, they refused to say when the fire could be put out.

Unconfirmed reports said the blow-out occurred when the associated gas from the well caught fire while crude oil was being pilfered from it. The pilfered oil is distilled at some make-shift refineries that have mushroomed in the region. These refineries are located inside residential houses in the area and are being allegedly run in connivance with ONGC employees.

This practice of pilfering crude oil from ONGC wells has been repeatedly brought to the notice of the corporation. In one of the official journals of the corporation, it has been clearly stated that in Gandhar, entry of persons is thoroughly restricted to avoid risks from unauthorised persons.

Gandhar was the first major oil discovery in Gujarat after Ankleshwar. It is situated 80 km south-west of Baroda and 37 km north-west of Bharuch. It has oil reserves of around 466 million tonnes.

The entire crude oil produced at Gandar is transported to the Gujarat refinery of Indian Oil Corporation.

The refinerys operations may also suffer in case production from the field is not resumed early.

The blow-out at Gandhar comes just a year after the blow-out at Deverapalli in East Godavari district of Andhara Pradesh on February 18, 1997. ONGC had sought the services of the US fire-fighting expert Raymond Henry to cap the well.