Oil drilling put on halt
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, July 05 2013 :
The works of exploring oil reserves in Jiribam and two other places in the Sate have been put on halt as the Companies engaged in the task have not been permitted to bring in necessary drilling machineries by the State Government.
According to a highly placed official source, the oil exploration works have been planned at three places namely Churachandpur, Tamenglong and Jiribam based on certain reliable reports about the presence of vast oil reserves in these places.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is responsible for oil exploration at Jiribam, but it has not yet started any work.
However, there has been some progress in the exploration works conducted by a private company, Jubilant House Private Limited in the interior places of Churachandpur and Tamenglong districts.
In a recent seismic survey conducted by the Jubilant Company, some favourable structures indicating the presence of oil deposits were found at the present exploration sites.
The age of rocks which built up these favourable structures was also calculated during this survey, according to a reliable source.
The source further said that the presence of oil reserves and their quantity in these exploration sites can only be ascertained by digging beyond the favourable structures and for this, heavy machineries and drilling equipments are required to further the exploration works.
The Jubilant Company has sought permission from the State Govt to bring in these machineries along National Highway No.37, but the permission was denied on the ground of poor condition of road and bridges that could not bear load more than 14 tonnes.
It may be noted that several social organizations are opposing oil exploration in the State.
But, the Company has invested crores of rupees into these exploration works.
Moreover, there is no surety that the exploration would yield oil.
There were instances in the past where the companies incurred huge losses owing to less quantity of oil found in the reserves.
The source further mentioned that the exploration works are taken up within 400 kilometres of the area.
It is still uncertain about the presence of oil reserves in these places.
Oil, if found in these regions, would be siphoned off only through a hole measuring few metres from a proper location.
If Manipur happens to have the petroleum deposits and social organizations are opposing to extraction of oil from these reserves, then it would not be difficult for the Company to drain out these oil reserves from the neighbouring states.
The petroleum deposits in hilly regions might also get vapourised at the time of occurrence of natural calamities such as earthquake, landslide, and mudslide, the source added.
Meanwhile, an official of the State Government has maintained that Manipur would generate huge revenue if oil reserves are found in these places.
Moreover, 1000 people are currently employed in the exploration works.
More employment generation would come once oil reserves are found in the State.
People need not feel apprehensive about extracting natural resources from beneath the earth.
No country can ever be developed without the use of its natural resources, the official source said.
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