Bid to find oil and gas in Puri district raises hope in state
- Bhubaneswar: More than two years after conducting a seismic survey in the Mahanadi basin, the Oil India Limited (OIL) on Wednesday started drilling for exploration of oil and natural gas in Puri district's Gop area, rai- sing the hope of bringing Odisha on the country's oil map.
- Biswanath Sahoo, who heads the Bay Exploration Project of OIL in Bhubaneswar, said the multi-phase drilling work in Puri may take two to three months. "There will be clarity on commercial viability of the reserve once the digging work on the country's oil map.
- The OIL has taken eight acres private land on lease in Gop block and some more in Astaranga block for exploration. "Around 2,275 ft will be dug to gauge the presence of natural gas or petroleum. The current exercise will help us know if the exismercially viable. Latest technology is being used for a safe, efficient and less time-consuming drilling," he said.
- Sahoo said depending on the findings, the Oil India would explore oil in other parts of the coastal areas such as Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendra pada, Jagatsinghpur, Khur da, Jajpur and Cuttack where the seismic survey data indicates last year.
- The exploration work was launched after a seismic sur vey indicated good possibility of oil and natural gas reserve in the coastal region. The Oll India had processed 1,502 km of two-dimensional seis mic data and 1,670 square km of three-dimensional seis mic data. The same was followed by ground preparations last year.
- The Oil India has deployed a Delhi-based private in. frastructure project company that specializes in drilling services using state-of-the art land rigs. In the first phase of the work. "Conductor ca sing" will be done in which the oil bore is isolated from the topsoil so that lose de bris don't pollute the natural reserve. This will be followed by the actual rigging-up process.