Oil and gas exploration work and refinery operations in the eastern coast was not affected although some of the work was temporarily halted due to the earthquake and tidal waves. “There was no loss of operations, installation and personnel. All are safe,” ONGC Director (Exploration) Y.B. Sinha said. ONGC, which is drilling both in deep water and shallow water off the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, had assessed no damage due to the tidal waves. Cairns Energy officials said there was no major damage to the company’s Rava oil and gas fields off the Andhra coast. It was not immediately known if Reliance Industries’ deep water exploration in Bay of Bengal was impacted. “All company officials and facilities are safe,” a Reliance spokesman said. However, operations at both the Chennai and Vizag refineries of HPCL were unaffected. “Our operations are normal. There is no damage to the refinery,” HPCL Director (Refineries) D.S. Mathur said from Mumbai. A Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd official said the refinery was functioning normally. Tidal waves affected the coastal states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Andamans and Orissa.
