Page 6 - AsianOil Week 26 2021
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AsianOil SOUTH ASIA AsianOil
ONGC’s environmental credentials
further tarnished by oil spill
PROJECTS & THE environmental credentials of India’s larg-
COMPANIES est oil and gas developer are coming under
increased scrutiny, with state-run Oil and Natu-
ral Gas Corp.’s (ONGC) latest pipeline spill doing
little to help the company’s image.
An ONGC pipeline spilled crude on farmland
in Melapanaiyur village in the southern state of
Tamil Nadu, whose government was already hos-
tile towards the company’s exploration efforts. The state major had sought permission from
The crude oil spread through at least one Tamil Nadu’s State Environment Impact Assess-
4,000-square metre samba paddy in Melapa- ment Authority (SEIAA) to drill 10 wells in Ari-
naiyur, local media reported on June 30. Local yalur district and five in Cuddalore district in
media quoted the farm’s owner, Sivakumar, as mid-June.
saying the oil spill had devastated his crop and However, Tamil Nadu Industries Minister
that ONGC should pay him INR1mn ($13,400) Thangam Thennarasu revealed on June 22 that
in compensation. the SEIAA had rejected ONGC’s application
While ONGC technicians reportedly plugged on the grounds that the company’s submissions
the leak within a few hours, local farmers told lacked details about the projects’ socio-eco-
reporters that they had demanded compen- nomic and environmental impact.
sation from the developer. The Times of India Environmental activists had campaigned
quoted unnamed sources as saying that the state against the developer’s plans, with Tamil Nadu
major had bowed to their demands. organisation Poovulagin Nanbargal (which
The Hindu, meanwhile, quoted the head of translates as Friends of the Earth) saying ONGC
the village council, Jeevanandam, as saying that was working against local farmers’ interests.
the major needed to remove oil pipelines that ran Poovulagin Nanbargal spokesperson G Sun-
through local farmland fields, as they had been darrajan told The Hindu on June 17 that the
laid two decades ago. proposals came despite the fact that Tamil Nadu
The oil spill has given added weight to the Chief Minister M K Stalin had asked Indian
Tamil Nadu government’s decision on June 21 Prime Minister Narendra Modi to recall the fed-
to reject the company’s application to drill 15 eral government’s upstream bid round for Pudu-
exploration wells in the state. kottai district.
ITFC lends $4.5bn to
Pakistan for oil, gas imports
FINANCE & THE Pakistani government has reportedly (l/cs) for Pak-Arab Refinery (Parco), Pakistan
INVESTMENT secured a three-year, $4.5bn loan from the State Oil (PSO) and Pakistan LNG Ltd’s (PLL)
Islamic Trade Finance Corp. (ITFC) to help imports.
cover the cost of the country’s energy imports. ITFC is a member of the Islamic Develop-
The parties were expected to sign a formal ment Bank (IsDB) and was created in 2008 to
framework agreement for the trade financ- advance trade among Organisation of Islamic
ing facility this week, local daily Dawn quoted Cooperation (OIC) member countries.
unnamed sources as saying on June 25. The loan Pakistan had already signed a $1.1bn trade
will be broken into three annual tranches, each financing facility with ITFC in February, but
worth around $1.5bn, that will used to pay for Dawn’s sources said the funds had not been fully
imports of crude, oil products and liquefied nat- used owing to lower international oil prices,
ural gas (LNG) over 2021-2023. depressed domestic demand and limited sup-
Rather than transferring the funds to Paki- plies of Arabian crude.
stani bank accounts, it is understood that the ITFC CEO Hani Salem Sonbol said at
loan will be used to underwrite letters of credit the time that Pakistan was the second largest
P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 26 01•July•2021
