(easternsentinel.in/) Oil India Limited (A GoI Enterprise) was today officially granted Petroleum Exploration Licenses (PEL) by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh for exploration of petroleum products in seven new blocks and in one as an extension to the existing Jairampur block.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu handed over the licenses to OIL Chief General Manager (FB) Inderjit Baruah and his team here this morning for the exploration blocks spread across Changlang, Tirap, Lohit, East Siang, West Siang and Lower Dibang Valley districts.
Khandu requested the PSU to maintain communication with the local administration during explorations which involve explosions so that people in the vicinity can be intimated in advance as precautionary measures. Besides suggesting the OIL officials to adopt public utility facilities like roads that would facilitate better cooperation from the local populace, he also urged them to initiate CSR activities. CM further suggested that part of the royalties received through such projects be utilized on development and welfare of the local people and asked Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar who was also present in the meeting to ensure this by putting in place a robust mechanism. Khandu was informed that exploration of each block consists of two phases viz initial exploration phase and subsequent exploration phase and the period of each phase is about 3 years with a provision for an additional one year extension and the total exploration period is 8 years. Grant of licenses for the aforementioned blocks would lead to significant increase in exploration and production activities in oil sector in Arunachal and in the long run, discoveries from these blocks would further help in enhancing domestic production of petroleum and reduction of import dependency of the country.  It may be noted that in order to accelerate exploration activities in the country, GoI had offered 55 exploration blocks spread across offshore and onshore areas under the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP) and Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Bid Round-1. Directorate General of Hydrocarbon (DGH), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas conducted bidding of exploration blocks under OALP Bid Round-1 from January to May 2018 and OIL bagged 9 blocks including 7 in Arunachal. In addition to this, the Ministry also granted the Jairampur Extension PEL Block measuring an area of 23.25 sq km falling under Changlang district to OIL on nomination basis.

Meanwhile, the OIL officials informed that the detailed project report for the proposed pipeline from Kumchai (Kharsang) in Arunachal to OIL’s Duliajan FGS in Assam for transportation of natural gas is complete and has been submitted to the state government as directed. The proposed cross-country pipeline would cover a distance of 60 kms of which 18.85 kms will be within Arunachal territory and once operational, natural gas which at the moment is burnt off without much utilization can be put to commercial use leading to earning of revenue for the state. In a meeting with Chief Minister last September, OIL officials had urged the state government for early issuance of Forest Clearances (FC) for the identified blocks so that Environment Clearance can be obtained from the Central Ministry to begin surveys and explorations.
Baruah thanked the Chief Minister for fast-tracking and completing the process within a short span enabling OIL to start explorations from this month itself. CMO