Ministry of petroleum and natural gas has granted permission to Vedanta Limited to explore hydrocarbon in 14 villages of Shahjahanpur and Lakhimpur Kheri districts. ONGC had done a survey in the said villages nearly 30 years ago and a recently concluded lab test in Russia has suggested that there is 95% chance of the presence of hydrocarbon there. If this turns out to be a commercial discovery, it will be the first time for the land-locked state.
A team of experts from Vedanta recently met the villagers in Nahil village of Shahjahanpur district after which they have agreed to give their land on lease for exploration. The villagers have agreed to give their land for exploration and sign a contract. The villagers have been promised payment for their losses. If the crop of any villager is damaged because of exploration process then he would also be entitled for compensation, officials said.
Vedanta has spotted 10 villages in Kheri while four villages in Shahjahanpur district where they would be exploring the possibility of the presence of natural oil or gas. Nahil, Hardua, Bilsi and Billauri village fall in Shahjahanpur where Vedanta would dig oil wells.
The officials camped in Nahil village on Sunday and shared the details about the project. Jitendra Lal, project officer from Vedanta who camped in Nahil with administrative officials, said, “ONGC had earlier attempted to explore the presence of hydrocarbons but the project was dropped after drilling for nearly 15 days in a few villages, including Nahil of Powayan tehsil, in 1988-89. The samples collected during that time were sent for lab tests. Now after recent test reports from Russia, Vedanta has decided to take up this project and we will do our research work after completing all the formalities. The selected piece of land will be taken on rent from the farmers and they will be compensated for their losses till the time hydrocarbon exploration is done. In case hydrocarbons are not discovered then the land will be returned to farmers in the same condition as it was acquired. The exploration will start after seeking all the necessary permissions from all the departments.”
Ashok Trivedi, a 56-year-old resident of Nahil village who had given his land to ONGC earlier, told TOI, “We are ready to give our land for exploration but we need more clarity on what will happen if oil is discovered from our land. We are definitely very happy that this could be life- changing for each and every individual of the village. We have been promised better life if hydrocarbons are discovered here after digging oil wells.”
ADM (finance) Amar pal Singh said, “The company will select sites within the village where they would start digging wells in the next few months. They have agreed to compensate for losses during the exploration process.”
In 2013, Oil India Ltd (OIL) had found presence of hydrocarbons in the first exploratory well drilled by it in UP under its Ganga Valley Project. The well was being dug near Bilaspur in close-by Rampur district. However, nothing much was heard about it after that and OIL officials were tight-lipped about the results from the well.
