GUWAHATI
The Nagaland Tribes Council (NTC) has set certain conditions for oil exploration in Nagaland.
Nagaland is estimated to have 600 million tonnes of oil and natural gas reserves. Exploration in the State was stopped in the 1990s due to extremism and opposition from local groups.
Various groups in Nagaland, including the Naga National Political Groups comprising seven extremist outfits, began raising concern after Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio and his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma agreed in principle on April 22 for oil exploration in the disputed areas along the border between the two States.
During an event in Guwahati on May 1, the chairman and managing director of Oil India Limited (OIL), Ranjit Rath said the exploration company was keen on exploring 3,000 sq. km in Nagaland after carrying out operations in Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, and Tripura, besides Assam.
“We have an exploration acreage of 3,000 sq. km in Nagaland. We are hopeful of operations as a dispute between Assam and Nagaland is getting sorted out through discussions,” he said.
But the NTC said there cannot be any exploration unless the boundary dispute between the two States is settled and the “defective” 2012 rules and regulations pertaining to petroleum and natural gas in Nagaland are amended to the satisfaction of the people.
There can be no exploration without the consent of the stakeholders, the NTC said, blaming Assam for creating problems along the “artificial boundary line” to “annex the land of the Nagas”.
According to a 2022 estimate, Nagaland is losing ₹1,825 crore annually in oil royalty because of the non-operation of more than 30 oil fields along the disputed border.
