HYDROCARONS IN NAGALAND
Nagaland is one of the north-eastern states of the country, with its capital at Kohima. To its west it the international boundary with Myanmar, to its east the vast plains of Assam, to its south the state of Manipur and to its north the mountainous state of Arunachal Pradesh.Oil has been found in Assam for over a century now by Assam Oil Company, Oil India Limited and later by the state owned corporation- Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited. Topographically, Nagaland is basically mountainous with small intermountain valleys. Dimapur ,the only railhead and airport is the commercial hub of the state.
2. In 1972, Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) was granted to the ONGC by the Nagaland Govt. For an area of 12 sq. Kms. at Changpang in Wokha dist. The ONGC commenced its operations at Changpang in 1973 and the first well drilled was found to be oil bearing. Subsequently, other developmental wells were drilled by the ONGC over the years and of the 23 wells drilled by them 18 were found to be oil bearing and 2 gas bearing.As per terms of the PEL granted to the ONGC “trial production” was continued by them till 1992, producing around 1 million tonnes of oil from Changpang. Subsequently, the production and other related activities of the ONGC were suspended by the State Govt. primarily on account of inept handling of exploration related activities in the state. The above situation still remains the same and ONGC has been debarred from undertaking any exploration related activities in the state till date.While several meetings have been held between the ONGC, Govt. Of Nagaland and the Petroleum Ministry at the centre over the years the empass still persists.
3. The “Belt of Shuppen” as it is known is the most prospective area for Hydrocarbons. The belt of Sedimentary rocks stretching from Singphan (Mon dist.) in the North to Jalukie (Jalukie dist.) in the South are the most prospective areas for Oil exploration in the state. Seven prospective blocks have earlier been delineated by the ONGC / Ministry of Petroleum from within this belt – Changpang being one of them. Some private Oil Companies like, Conoro Resources Ltd. , Shiv Vani Oil & Gas Exploration Co. were also granted permission by the Ministry of Petroleum for conducting Oil Exploration in the state, but not much headway could be made.
4. Under Article 371A of the Constitution of India, certain concessions have been granted to the State of Nagaland. Apart from granting permission to continue to practice their customary laws etc. , the main issue however relates to “transfer of land & its resources”. The above Article enunciates that any act of Parliament relating to transfer of land & its resources shall not be automatically extended to the State of Nagaland till such time the State Legislative Assembly passes the resolution to this effect. This in effect would largely mean that land owners would have a say in the matter & that their interests have also to be addressed to by the exploration on exploitation agency.
5. On my release from The Geological Survey of India in 1968 on deputation to the Govt. Of Nagaland , I had the singular privilege of setting up the Department of Geology & Mining in the State as its head. I continued to be its head till my superannuation in 1993. All major mineral discoveries made, including grant of PEL to the ONGC were done during my tenure as Head Of the State Department. Besides, Oil at Champang (Wokha dist.) several other important mineral discoveries were made in the State during my tenure. To name a few – are the vast reserve of very high grade Limestone deposits (At Nimi, Kiphire dist.) , Multimetallic deposit of Magnetite – Nickel – Chromium – Cobalt (Pokhpur, Kiphre dist.), Marble , Chromite & decorative stones ( Khiphire & Phek dist.).
6. In December 2009, at the instance of Shri. R.S. Pandey , the then Secretary Petroleum the ONGC picked me up as their Senior Advisor for Nagaland for taking up work relating to resumption of its Oil exploration activities in the State which have remain suspended for over 16 Years. I have continued to be in this capacity till June 2011. Unfortunately, off the several proposals submitted by me from time to time to the ONGC , none seem to have found favour with them, mainly because of their rigid stance. Time and again in the course of meetings I have made it very clear to the top bosses in the ONGC that working in a Tribal State like Nagaland the aspirations of the local tribal People need to be properly addressed. Unfortunately being a Govt. Agency the ONGC have their own set of rules and procedures which do not permit any flexibility. For the above reasons the empass still continues. The Govt. Of Nagaland for the above reasons are very averse to the idea of Oil & Gas exploration activities being taken up in the State in the near future by the ONGC. However The State Govt. are seriously looking for experienced & resourceful private Oil Companies , who have the capability & resources for taking up Oil exploration & related activities in the State , even on partnership/Joint-venture basis.
( R.N.KACKER )
Senior Advisor – ONGC
Nagaland
