Petroleum drilling faces snag as machine snaps against hard rock

By Our Correspondent,Dailekh, July 29: Difficulties have arisen in the drilling work for the exploration of petroleum products in Dailekh due to the hard rock formation under the ground. 

Drilling machine started breaking as it encountered a hard rock under the ground. The drilling work was being done in Bhairavi Rural Municipality-1, Jaljale of Dailekh.

Suresh Shrestha, Senior Divisional Geologist of the Petroleum Exploration Project of the Department of Mines and Geology, informed that the drilling work became difficult after the rim of the drilling machines started breaking due to the hard rock. According to him, 1,147 metres deep drilling had been done till Saturday, July 27.

He informed that after the rims of the drilling machine brought in the first phase for the exploration of petroleum products were broken, the project is bringing more equipment from China. These equipment have reached the Nepal border in Rasuwa. 

Although the goal is to complete the drilling work in four to six months, the progress is not as expected.

For the drilling works, 45 ropanis of land has been acquired in Bhairavi-1, Jaljale. At present, a group of 60 people including Chinese and Nepali technicians and workers is involved in the drilling work. 

It started with the financial and technical support of the Chinese government. Nepal and China signed an agreement on February 28, 2019, to conduct exploration of petroleum products within three years at Shirasthan, Navisthan Paduka in Dailekh. As the work could not be done according to the agreement, the time period was extended again.

Initially, there was an agreement to complete the work in three phases within three years, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the work could not progress as per the agreement. 

Chinese technicians conducted an on-site study of Dailekh and discovered the possible place of petroleum in the first phase. Based on that, the drilling work was started by constructing the rig house for drilling.

"After drilling, we can find out how much petroleum is available there. Then an analysis of economic benefit would be made, following which production work would be started," said Shrestha.