The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) on Friday “successfully” capped the oil well in Assam’s Sivasagar district that suffered a blowout on June 12.
The energy major said the capping operation marked a significant milestone in the well control efforts and was “a testament to ONGC’s engineering excellence, meticulous planning, and strong collaboration with global and local partners. Subsequent steps in the well control roadmap will now be taken up as per operational protocols”.
The capping operation was completed at around 11.15am on Friday “within 15 days of the incident, the ONGC said.
There was uncontrollable gushing of gas from the oil well because of the blowout that took place on June 12 during the servicing of the well.
A private company named SK Petro has been engaged for the servicing. The incident had affected over 300 families and had seen protests by local organisations seeking accountability for the incident and compensation for the affected.
Led by ONGC’s crisis management team and global experts from the US-based Cudd Well Control, the high-risk operation was executed with “precision, discipline, and zero harm,” the energy major said, thanking the central and state governments “and the resilient local community for their unwavering support”.
Sources said around 300 personnel were involved in the capping operation. The ONGC had flown in three experts from the US on June 20. The foreign experts will leave on Saturday, the sources said.