Kendrapara: The public sector unit Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) re-launched natural gas exploration at Bishoka village under Derabish block Monday after presence of natural gas reserve were reported from the district.
The matter came to fore after workers started drilling ground to trace the presence of natural gas in the village, Monday. Geophysicists KVS Sibaram Krishnan, Prabin Kumar and Ramakrishnan were seen supervising the entire operation. Earlier, scientific studies of the samples drawn have confirmed visible concentration of methane gas in the village.
The exploration for natural gas was first launched in 2007 after gas started coming out of ground during digging of tube wells at different point of times under the block. The water drawn from a tube well also gave out pungent smell and to the utter surprise of everybody the water caught fire when brought near a flame.
Earlier, ONGC launched natural gas exploration at Mantripada village under the block December 13, 2007 but later abandoned it citing lesser presence of the gas. However, presence of methane gas has been confirmed during drilling of tube wells at various places under the block since 2016. Presence of natural gas was found at Mathasahi village after digging the ground around 50-ft for a tube well, April 23, 2020. The gas when came in contact with fire burnt for two hours.
Similarly, methane gas was spotted in the same manner at Ghagra village under Kendrapara block, December 21, 2017.
The ONGC launched exploration and found presence of natural gas after drilling for around 200-ft. In 2018, natural gas was found in Kalabuda village under Garadapur block June 16 and in Sobala village under Mahakalapara block September 9 during digging of tube wells of two villagers.
PNN
