Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Wednesday, Jan 23, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Wednesday, Jan 23, 2002 |
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Corporate
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Performance ONGC crude theft loss put at Rs 700 cr per year Our Bureau
MUMBAI, Jan. 22 THE biggest oil producer in the country, ONGC, has a major problem on hand: preventing theft and pilferage of oil. According to officials, large quantity of oil is being stolen every year from ONGC's onshore oilfieds at Ankleshwar. Estimates are that annual losses from oil thefts are in the region of Rs 600 to Rs 700 crore. "We have over 500 onshore oil wells in a region of 1,000 acres. It is impossible to monitor the entire region manually. And almost everyday there are at least two to three instances of reported thefts,'' said Mr A. K. Mehra, Asset Manager, Ankleshwar. Crude is either stolen at the well head or by drilling a hole in the innumerable pipelines carrying oil to the crude processing facility. Each tanker (10,000 litres) of stolen crude or condensate (lighter crude) can fetch up to Rs 1.5 lakh. This crude is then allegedly mixed with petrol or is directly used as fuel by some vehicle owners in the region. According to a local citizen, the adulterated fuel is easily available at some of the retail outlets in the area. "It is not uncommon to find one-room refineries which sell partly processed crude oil as fuel in the region spanning Gandhar, Bharuch and Ankleshwar,'' he said. The huge fire which killed two people at ONGC's well number 345 in Gandhar last November was reportedly a result of a theft attempt. According to preliminary investigations, the fire took place because of an accident when three tankers were being filled at the well head. Local citizens allege that the thefts could be happening in connivance with some company employees considering one of the dead bodies at the fire site was that of an ONGC staffer. Senior ONGC officials at the Ankleshwar installation do not completely brush off the claim. " We are trying to contain the problem by transferring employees who have worked for more than 10 years at the asset,'' said a senior ONGC official. The company is also planning to employ more personnel to replace hired security.
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