Oil exploration in lower Assam

It is very heartening to learn that an initiative has been taken to launch petroleum exploration on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra in lower Assam in the next few months. This is a first not only in the history of Assam's oil but also in the history of the state's economic progress. It is significant to note that the Assam Government on Thursday signed Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) deeds for two Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) blocks with Oil India Limited to launch this initiative. Two blocks identified and earmarked for the proposed exploration are the Pathsala Block (measuring 2445.30 sq km and covering the districts of Barpeta, Nalbari, Baksa, and Kamrup) and the Mangaldai Block (measuring 1840.87 sq km and covering Udalguri, Darrang, and parts of Kamrup districts). While exploration of petroleum oil is currently restricted only to a few districts of upper Assam like Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Charaideo, Sivasagar, and Jorhat, once the two new blocks turn out to be successful, it will bring a new dimension to the state. According to reports, Oil India Ltd has laid out plans to invest a sum of approximately Rs 12 crore in these two projects, and the seismic survey in the two blocks has already started. This will continue until the onset of the monsoon. Taking up exploration work in two new areas is also significant against the backdrop of the fact that crude oil availability in the upper Assam oilfields has been gradually declining over the past couple of decades. In the oilfields which are under operational control of Oil India Ltd, there has been a higher average decline rate in matured reservoirs which have resulted in less than the envisaged production in the recent few years. Onshore crude oil production in Assam, which stood at 3.91 million metric tonnes in 2021, has declined to around 3 million metric tonnes in the next 12 months, which has already started ringing alarm bells in Delhi. Despite this decline, it is significant to note that Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has gone on record saying that the overall oil production from the Northeast is expected to increase by 67% from 4.11 MMT in 2020–21 to 6.85 MMT in the next four years.