Ongc Shuts Down Gandhar Oilfield

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has shut down production of natural gas at Gandhar oilfields in south Gujarat with immediate effect following the state governments failure to respond to its plea to provide adequate security for free movement of vehicles carrying inputs for the oilfields.

Production of oil and gas from some of the oilfields at Gandhar village in neighbouring Broach district had come to a halt for the past three days as agitating farmers of nearby villages were obstructing movement of ONGCs vehicles, demanding more price for land acquired by the corporation for exploration and drilling purposes, ONGC sources said.

 

ONGC sources said the farmers had been demanding more price for land acquired by ONGC for exploration and drilling purposes. ONGC had already granted cent per cent hike in the prices of land being acquired by it. However, this has not satisfied the farmers, sources added.

After Ankleshwar oil field, Gandhar oil field is considered to be the best oil field in the country discovered by ONGC.

The decision to shut down production at the oilfields was taken after consulting the Union government, sources said.

Meanwhile, official sources said the state government would take up the matter with the Centre if the issue of compensation to farmers was not resolved at the meeting between the government and the corporation officials. The state government had charged the ONGC with non-cooperative attitude on the issue of compensation to the farmers.

The shutdown could cost the exchequer Rs 120 crore per day, ONGC sources said.

ONGC employees working in the oilfields were held up at the plant as agitating farmers did not allow them to move out, sources said. The situation worsened as the scheduled meeting between ONGC officials and the state urban development minister, Khumansinh Vansia, at the district collectors office at broach yesterday could not take place.

The stoppage of production of 6.5 million standard cubic metre gas per day will affect the production of 2.5 million metric tonnes of crude oil per annum which would eventually be stopped if no corrective measures were taken, sources said.

ONGC has asked gas consumers to make alternative arrangements in view of the stoppage of gas production at Gandhar.