First-ever survey to see if Mizoram has oil

Oil India Ltd Chairman and Managing Director M R Pasrija said here today that Mizoram had already shown “tremendous possibility” of becoming a major source of crude oil and petroleum, especially because of its strategic location in the Assam-Arakan region.

“Mizoram, being situated in the Assam-Arakan basin, has tremendous possibility of becoming a major source of petroleum and natural gas in the next few years. Oil India is launching its first-ever seismic survey in the state in another four months,” Pasrija said. The Oil India CMD said Mizoram had more chances of turning out to be major source of natural gas.

“There is already a large reservoir of gas on the other side of the Indo-Bangladesh border. Myanmar’s gas reserves are also almost in the same region,” he added.

The ministry of hydrocarbons has already identified an area of over 3,600 sq kms between Saiha and Lunglei in Mizoram for exploration of hydrocarbons in the next four or five years.

The adjoining state of Tripura has already become a major reservoir of natural gas in the past few years.

Oil India, meanwhile, has stepped up its production in its two oilfields in Arunachal Pradesh. “Our two oilfields at Kharsang and Kumchai have been doing very well in the recent years, and the entire Jairampur belt is turning out to be a major reservoir,” Pasrija said.

He, however, expressed concern over the ageing of the country’s two oldest oilfields — Moran and Naharkatiya — and said Oil India was looking at acquiring the latest technology to cope with the ageing factor of these two areas.

“Both these oilfields are more than five decades old, and we are trying to manage them more effectively so that we are able to enhance the output,” Pasrija said.