Morung Express New
Dimapur | July 22
The Maharatna Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), the public sector undertaking and the largest crude oil and natural gas Company in India, is currently operating fields in the Disputed Area Belt (DAB) between Assam and Nagaland, the Lok Sabha was informed on July 19.
“Consequent to a boundary dispute between the States of Assam and Nagaland, certain area has been marked as Disputed Area Belt (DAB),” said the Minister of State, Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoNPG), Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to a query posed by MP Tokheho Yepthomi.
The ONGC operates 8 fields in DAB, he added.
Yepthomim, the lone Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) from Nagaland, queried the ministry on details of oil fields between Assam and Nagaland, quantity of oil being extracted, supply of crude oil to different refineries and oil royalty paid to the State of Assam per annum during the last five years.
As per data provided by the MoPNG citing the ONGC, the total oil production from during the last five financial years upto 2021-22 was 644.55 Thousand Metric Tonne (TMT).
Production was highest in 2019-20 at 153.46 TMT, followed by 150.06 TMT in 2020-21. The total production in FY 2021-22 was given as 133.16 TMT.
The Ministry’s reply further informed the total royalty paid on crude oil from all oil fields located in the Assam during the last five financial year up to 2021-22 stood at Rs 9903.62 crore, averaging Rs 1980.72 crore per annum. During 2021-22, a sum of Rs 2411.38 crore was paid as royalty on crude oil.
The data from the MoPNG, however, did not specify whether there royalty was from all oil fields located in Assam or those located at the DAB between Assam.
