Kollam: Oil India Limited, a central public sector company, is gearing up for crude oil exploration in Kollam. A contract worth Rs 1,252 crore has been inked for the exploration of liquid, gas, and fuel, including crude oil, with the UK-based private company Dolphin Drilling. The crude oil exploration is slated to commence in the middle of this year.
The drilling process will be carried out 26 nautical miles (48 km) away from the Kollam port. The comprehensive contract encompasses various aspects such as designing, engineering, storage, construction, transportation, and the installation of large wells. The contracted company will provide essential equipment like drilling rigs for mining operations up to 5.5 km deep in the sea. The Navy’s permission for exploration was already obtained earlier.
Reports indicate that preliminary surveys, conducted between December 2020 and January 2021 in the targeted deep-sea area, have identified 18 potential sites for the presence of crude oil.
Moreover, the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has granted Oil India Limited, the country’s second-largest oil company, permission to explore for fuel in four blocks spanning a total area of 93.902 square kilometres in the Amalapuram and Kerala-Konkan Sea regions of Andhra Pradesh. Initial groundwork has already been completed on 64.547 sq km in the Amalapuram region and 29.355 sq km in the Kerala-Konkan region.
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