As the gushing out of oil and gas from the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) exploratory well located in Mehsana district of Gujarat continued unabated for the fourth consecutive day here on Tuesday, the corporation today decided to take the help of global experts to bring the well under control.
ONGC asset manager S K Sood said that two senior technical officials of Wild Cat, which is a US-based company, would arrive at the site on Wednesday. They would then set into motion coil tubing unit (CTU) operations and commence other requisite efforts to subdue the well, he added.
ONGC had taken the help of Wild Cat, which is considered to have global expertise in controlling oil and gas wells, to cap its well in Gandhar that had caught fire on October 30, when a gang of miscreants were trying to pilfer oil through the well head. Then the fire, which had raged for almost ten days, was finally extinguished with the help of senior technical officials of Wild Cat on November 9.
Emphasising that a dummy survey on the lines of a mock drill was conducted today to study the feasibility of three different action plans envisaged for tomorrow, he said that most likely the gushing of oil and gas would come under control within the next couple of days.
Elaborating on the other developments at the site today, he said that ONGC removed all the extra bunk houses in the vicinity and set up first aid centres and communication rooms.
Moreover ONGC personnel also managed to clear the site of all the heavy equipment and shifted them to the additional land, which has been acquired nearby, specifically for this purpose, Sood said. "We have also began digging a large pit at the site, which could hold 10,000 litres of water, to help us combat any eventuality in case a fire breaks out," he added.
