Kolkata: Commercial production of crude oil at the ONGC field in Ashoknagar’s Baigachhi, North 24 Parganas, began on Friday.The first consignment of around 1,200 litres of crude left the oilfield for the Haldia refinery in a tanker after a brief ceremony in the afternoon, during which Ashoknagar’s BJP MLA Sumay Hira broke a coconut and waved a green flag. ONGC director (exploration) Om Prakash Sinha and other senior officials of the PSU attended the event.ONGC officials said the oilfield, 48km from the heart of Kolkata, produces around 20 cubic metres of crude per day. “The crude emerges from the well mixed with water. It is processed through separators and by an effluent treatment plant before being transported to the refinery for further processing,” a senior ONGC official said.Currently, two wells are operational in Ashoknagar. The company is preparing to drill another five or six wells and has set a target of transporting around 20,000 litres of crude to the Haldia refinery every day.“There is more oil in the Ashoknagar area than we had anticipated. Production… is encouraging and expected to increase further in the coming days,” director (exploration) Sinha said.The start of commercial production at Ashoknagar follows years of exploration and successful navigation of operational hurdles.Oil and gas deposits were first discovered at Baigachhi in 2018. In Dec 2020, then Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan visited the site and flagged off the first consignment of crude oil produced on an experimental basis.Operations subsequently were disrupted during the pandemic and because of land-related complications. Technical problems, too, led to the suspension of production in one of the wells. ONGC resumed production and exploration after resolving the issues and came across signs of the presence of more hydrocarbon reserves.MLA Sumay Hira said the expansion of the oilfield could generate employment opportunities for residents of the area and give a boost to the regional economy. “Several land-related complications that had previously affected ONGC’s operations have been substantially resolved,” he said.In 2020, during experimental extraction, one of the wells reportedly yielded around 375 barrels of crude oil. Experts had also said the quality of the crude was comparable to that of the oil from the Mumbai High offshore field.“The start of commercial production of crude oil in Baigachhi, after years of delays and interruptions, has brought renewed optimism to Ashoknagar,” Sumit Gupta, a local trader said.
