more-in RAMANATHAPURAM Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is all set to dig 22 exploratory natural gas wells and has drawn an ambitious plan to step up gas production in the existing ‘gas-bearing’ wells in the district. ONGC officials, who visited the district recently to hand over to the beneficiary families individual household latrines (IHHLs) built under the corporation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activity, said the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF) had given clearance for digging 22 wells. The proposed wells would not adversely affect the environment and disturb aquifers or farm activities, the officials claimed while parrying question on the exact locations of the proposed wells. Asked about reports that the wells would come up at locations within 10 km of Sakkarakottai and Thethangal bird sanctuaries, the officials said the locations were ‘immaterial’ as the wells would come 3,000 metres to 4,500 metres below the ground level. After getting clearance from the State government, the ONGC would start digging the wells and it proposed complete each well in three to four months, they said. The ONGC had so far dug 86 wells in the district after digging the first well at Perunkulam in 1994. “Presently, we have 39 ‘gas-bearing’ wells and producing 20 lakh cubic metres of gas per day,” the officials said. The gas extracted from the wells was collected at the ONGC gas collection centre at Valantharavai before being distributed to the buyers, mostly gas-based power plants. Though there was a huge potential, the ONGC had limited gas extraction to 20 lakh cubic metres per day to just meet the demand, they said. They were planning a tie-up with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), which was laying an underground natural gas pipeline from Ennore in north Chennai to Thoothukudi, they said, adding after getting the connectivity in the IOC pipeline, the ONGC would double gas production, they said. Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) in Thoothukudi was willing to buy the entire production, they said. On several misconceptions, they said as the ONGC applied telescopic and insulated drilling technology, the operation would not disturb aquifers. Hardly two tankers of water would be used per day while digging a well, they said.

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