Document Fragment View

Matching Fragments

III. On the day of the blowout of Well Baghjan-5 i.e. 27.05.2020 and subsequent explosion on 09.06.2020, OIL did not have the mandatory Consent to Establish and Consent to Operate both under Section 25 & 26 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, under Section 21 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act and the Rules framed thereunder and/or the authorization Rule 6 of the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016.

VI. OIL, till date, does not have the required Consent to Establish and/or Consent to Operate to either carry our drilling and testing of hydrocarbons in Well Baghjan-5 under the DSNP Area, except for the years 2008-09, 2012-13, 2018-19, under Section 25 & 26 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, under Section 21 of the Air (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act and the Rules framed thereunder and/or the authorization required Rule 6 of the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 which is in clear violation of the conditions stipulated in the Environmental Clearance dated 11.05.2020.

Preliminary Interim Measures I. Immediate Preventive Measures to Avoid Similar Blowout and Explosions

(i) It is pertinent to note that the handling of Gas wells is different than Oil wells. Therefore, it is necessary to have different SOP for Gas wells.

(ii) Isolation of any Hydrocarbon bearing Zone by a secondary barrier is critical and ought to be planned carefully. Such well situation cannot be relied upon only on Hydrostatic Head of well Fluid. There ought to be proper secondary safety barrier, which are tested both positively and negatively to check its integrity before attending any critical operation in the well like nipple down of BOP.

8. We now reproduce extracts from the objections dated 27.07.2020 filed on 12.02.2021 by the OIL to the above report:

"9. That it is pertinent to mention that Baghjan Field is located at a distance of approximately 70 KM from Digboi, Eastern Asset Field Office and Field Headquarters (FHQ), Duliajan. Baghjan is one of the main hydrocarbon producing fields within OIL India Ltd's operational area in Assam. Consequent upon the successful commercial discovery of crude oil at Location-TP (BGN#2) exploitation of hydrocarbon from the field was started from the year 2005. As the field was found to be highly prolific in nature, an Early Production Setup (EPS) was constructed in year 2008 at the plinth of Location-TP for handling the produced crude. The EPS is designed for handling capacity of 2700 Kilo Liters Per Day (KLPD). So far, 31 Nos. of wells have been drilled in Baghjan Oilfield including 3 Water disposal wells. Out of which 21 wells are on regular production in Baghjan EPS. It is pertinent to mention herein that total of 31 wells were drilled including 3 wells as water disposal wells as on date. Out of the 28 wells drilled for hydrocarbon prospects, 05 wells including BGN#05 were completed as Gas wells and the remaining 23 wells were completed as OIL India Ltd wells. Currently out of these 28 wells, 05 wells are temporarily shut- in and 01 well is permanently abandoned. As such, prior to workover of BGN#5, 22 wells were on production. After blowout of BGN#5, 21 wells are in production with a total production of 1222 KLPD crude oil and approx. 1.77 MMSCMD natural gas.

10. The Baghjan Field has following infrastructure:

i. Well plinths distributing 31 wells: 08 ii. Flowline Indirect Heaters for flow assurance of produced hydrocarbons: 10 iii. Production Installation (In full operation): 01 iv. Compressor Station (BOO) to process LP Gas: 01 v. VDP securities are deployed to guard Flowline Indirect Heaters vi. AISF Security to carryout round the clock patrolling of well plinths to avoid miscreant activities Furthermore, produced formation water is disposed safely as per statutory guidelines in 03 Nos. of Water Disposal Wells (WDW). Moreover, an Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) of 1000 Kilo Litter capacity is planned in the proposed FGGS.