The OIL is currently conducting public hearings in villages to be affected by the exploration and is in the stage of procurement of land, a source from the company said.
Oil India Limited is very optimistic that Mizoram will become a major producer of hydrocarbon and discovery of oil or gas will bring in sustainable socio-economic development of the entire state, especially for the people of the operational areas, Tridev Hazarika, spokesperson for OIL said today.
The company is committed to putting in place all the resources under its command to explore for hydrocarbon reserves in the land of the blue hills, he said. As per the agreement, OIL is required to drill six wells of which three locations have been identified.
The other three will be selected after further geo scientific studies and results of the drilled wells. Drilling operation is expected to begin from early next year, the spokesman said.
In order to obtain environmental clearance, OIL is required to carry out an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study in the block to establish present baseline environmental scenario and the likely impact on the same as a result of proposed exploratory drilling and testing of the wells.
EIA report is prepared using primary baseline data collected at the site for nearly five weeks during March and April last and secondary data collected from various sources in public domain as well as the project information provided by OIL.
If the ONGC, which is deeply engaged in drilling operation in northern Mizoram, is being accused of violating environmental norms, the OIL is taking every possible measure to cause the least impact on the environment. Drilling rig and associated system will be used for drilling of the exploratory wells.
Water based mud will be used as drilling fluid which is intrinsically safe and causes minimum environmental disturbances.
Facilities for production testing will be created within each exploratory well site, Hazarika said. Use of water based mud for drilling is very eco-friendly and will cause minimum environmental disturbances.
There will be no impact on soils of the area except for the collection of rock cuttings, bentonite clay and other non-toxic ingredients of wasted WBM in HDPE lined effluents pits due to drilling of the wells. Tuirial, Mat Tuikum, Tut and Tuichang rivers are perennial rivers flowing in and close to the block area.
The construction of HDPE lined shallow effluents pits will ensure that there is no adverse impact on ground water or surface water quality of the block area. The discharge, if required, of treated effluents meeting on-shore discharge standards at a controlled rate will ensure that there is no perceptible adverse impact on surface water quality of nearby nullah/river, the spokesperson said.
Oil exploration giants like ONGC, IOC and OIL and firms from Israel, the US, France and Russia have been selected through global tenders to explore the gas and oil deposits in an area of 12,430 Sq Km, which comprised 58.9 per cent of the total geographical area of the state.
According to the agreements, 12 per cent of oil produced and 10 per cent of gas produced will go to the state of Mizoram as royalty.
As recommended by the 11th Finance Commission, the net profit will also be shared 50:50 between the state and the Centre.
Geologists said Mizoram falls under category number one or proven commercial productivity zone which roughly estimates there could be about 170 million metric tonnes of untapped crude reserves.
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