Assam oil well continues to leak ‘uncontrollably’ one week after explosion

An oil well in Assam continues to leak with natural gas pouring out for the seventh day and counting. On Monday, the government-owned Oil India Limited (OIL), which owns the rig, said in a statement that it has reached out to global experts to control the blowout.

The blowout — or an uncontrolled release of natural gas — was reported last Wednesday morning when a producing well under Baghjan Oilfield in Tinsukia district unexpectedly became “active” during operations. Tridiv Hazarika, OIL, said all necessary permissions have been expedited so that Singapore-based expert team Alert can be called in if the leak cannot be plugged by Thursday.