ONGC successfully caps gas blowout in Assam's Sivasagar, says Union Minister Puri

New Delhi/Guwahati, June 27 (IANS) State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) on Friday successfully capped the blowout in one of its wells in Assam’s Sivasagar district, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri has announced.

Announcing the plugging of the blowout, Puri said in a post on X on Friday, “ONGC has successfully capped the blow out of well RDS#147A at 1115 hours hrs today. This blow out started on 12th June and has been capped successfully within the shortest possible time following all the best practices."

He said the Crisis Management Team of ONGC, along with the international well control experts, finally brought the curtains down on the gas well blowout through meticulous planning and concerted efforts in a safe manner, without any injury, casualty or fire, testifying to the competency of Crisis Management.

The Union Minister also expressed thanks to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and officials of the Assam government "for the excellent and continuous support to the teams on the ground".

A corporation official earlier said that during servicing operations at Well No. RDS-147A on June 12 morning, an oil well of the ONGC’s Rudrasagar field in Sivasagar district, Assam, gushes of gas were observed from the well.

The ONGC officials on Thursday said that they are hopeful to plug the gas blowout by Friday, and accordingly, have successfully done the capping of the well. The company sources earlier said that ONGC, in close coordination with international well control specialists from CUDD Pressure Control, achieved a key breakthrough on Thursday in its ongoing operations at Well RDS-147A.

The team successfully cleared all remaining rig materials, including staircases, entangled wires, and other structural components. According to officials, this critical step culminated in the safe removal and dragging out of the rig substructure, thereby creating clear access to the wellhead and enabling preparations for the upcoming snubbing operation, an essential part of the final well control process.

Arrangements for the deployment of snub lines and other preparatory activities were made on Thursday. This phase included the careful removal of the existing Blowout Preventer (BOP), followed by the installation of a replacement unit as part of the well-capping strategy, the officials said.

They said that in a carefully planned and precisely executed operation, ONGC successfully connected hydraulic lines to the existing BOP to pressurise the unit and operate the rams. The fact that this was accomplished without any visible increase in gas discharge stands as a strong validation of ONGC’s technical assessment and strategic foresight. The operation unfolded exactly as anticipated, reflecting the depth of planning, accurate pressure analysis, and the disciplined execution that have guided ONGC’s well control efforts throughout.

They said that adding to the momentum, favourable weather conditions throughout the day on Thursday enabled the teams to maximise their productivity. The ONGC team worked in close coordination to leverage the dry weather window and execute key tasks with high efficiency.

In another positive development, the Dikhow River has shown a receding trend, reducing the immediate threat of flooding and supporting site accessibility and logistics.

The company earlier had said that air quality monitoring continues uninterrupted in and around the site. “Encouragingly, there is no detectable trace of hydrocarbons beyond 30 metres from the well. Based on current assessments, residents living beyond a 500-metre radius from the incident site have now been advised that it is safe to return to their homes and resume normal activities, including cooking and the use of electricity,” the ONGC had said earlier this week.

More than 330 families from surrounding villages were evacuated following the gas blowout and are being supported with basic relief and safety measures at a camp set up in nearby Bangaon.

--IANS

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