The Union environment ministry is considering a proposal on whether extended reach drilling (ERD) in protected forest areas can be exempted from mandatory clearances under the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, according to people aware of the matter and official government documents seen by HT.
To make a decision on the proposal, the environment ministry sought a report from the Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH) on the impact of ERD technology, the people added.
ERD is a technology for drilling longer horizontal wells at a high inclination angle to reach underground oil/natural gas deposits further away from the drilling spot, instead of drilling wells vertically. The Union environment ministry gave the environmental clearance to OIL on May 11 for extension drilling and testing of hydrocarbons at seven locations under Dibru Saikhowa National Park but forest clearance for the project is pending.
