Final well-killing operation underway at Baghjan well

Final killing operation is underway on Tuesday towards dousing the blaze at the damaged gas well of Oil India Limited (OIL) at Baghjan in Assam.

An OIL press release said, after Monday''s successful capping operation, all arrangements for carrying out well- killing operation such as connections of kill lines and choke manifold lines have been completed.

"Final killing operation (pumping in mud with high pressure into the well) is underway," the press statement said on Tuesday.

The company, had on Monday said, it had successfully concluded the capping operation by installing the blow out preventive (BOP) stack over gas well No.5 at Baghjan.

A BOP is a very heavy metal cover weighing several tonnes that is placed at the mouth of any gas or oil well to stop leakage of fuel from under the ground.

The company could place the BOP over the Baghjan 5 gas well head in its third attempt since a major blowout took place on May 27.

The well number 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district has been spewing gas uncontrollably since May 27 and it caught fire on June 9, killing two firefighters of the OIL at the site.

A total of 2,756 families have been surveyed for assessment of damage for compensation till Monday in Doomdooma and Tinsukia Circle, the statement said.

"A total of 30,104 metric tonnes of crude oil and 71.01 million metric st. cubic metre of natural gas have been lost respectively as a result of protests/ blockades/ bandhs in and around Baghjan area since May 27 due to the blowout," the company said.

Data collection at site has been completed for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study by various agencies, it said.

OILs in-house monitoring of air quality, noise level, gas presence is being continued. Bio re-mediation activities in the affected areas are also in progress, the release said.