GUWAHATI, June 24 – The Centre’s move to hand over the Amguri oilfield to a Canadian firm on July 1 has run into a roadblock with the All India Petroleum Workers’ Federation (AIPWF) and the ONGC Workers’ Association (OWA) vowing to stall the move. The two organisations have called a 24-hour strike in all the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) installations in the State on that day to protest the Government move.
Addressing newspersons here today, former Assam Minister and president of the AIPWF and OWA, Promode Gogoi, condemned the decision of the Petroleum Ministry to hand over the Amguri oilfield to Canaro. He pointed out that it is in violation of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government. The CMP committed that “The UPA will retain existing ‘Navratna’ companies in the public sector while these companies raise resources from the capital market,” he mentioned.
The Amguri oilfield, in Sivasagar district, is the most prosperous field discovered by the ONGC, Gogoi stated. “The Government is handing it over to a foreign firm on a platter.” He said that the move has severe implications on India’s security while also leading to a setback in the development process in Upper Assam.
Gogoi, a member of the national executive of the Communist Party of India (CPI), said that representatives of the AIPWF and OWA had met the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyer on June 16 requesting him to cancel the decision. The decision to hand over the oilfield was taken by the previous NDA Government.
According to Gogoi, besides the Amguri oilfield, at least two more oilfields are about to be handed over to the Assam Company, a firm which has the Magor Group as its main promoters. It may be mentioned here that the Centre has initiated a move to hand over newly explored oilfields to private companies for drilling. Several blocks have already been handed over to private parties in Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh.
Gogoi said that there is no reason why oilfields explored by the ONGC should be handed over to private firms. The ONGC is the most profit making PSU posting a profit of Rs 11,000 crore last year. This year, it has made a profit of Rs 8,000 crore, he said. “There is a national risk in giving oilfields to private companies,” Gogoi stated. He said that once the oilfields are taken over by the firms, there would be no control over the activities of the companies. The private firms have been given a free hand to decide what they would do with their share, 60 percent, of the oil. The Government share would be 40 percent. It is possible, he said, that the refineries in Assam might run short of crude oil to process. The private companies, he said, will fix the price of petroleum according to prevailing international rates.
Gogoi also said that the ONGC has contributed much to the social sector, investing in roads and schools. No private company will involve itself in such activities. “They will not spend a farthing,” he stated. Gogoi said that the ONGC has already been forced to reduce its manpower from 11,000 in 1991 to about 7,000 at present. With more and more oilfields being handed over to private companies, the Corporation would soon be left with nothing to do. “We will resist such moves by any means,” Gogoi warned. He said that once the privatisation process starts, “the tide will not be stopped.”
In the bid to launch a mass movement against the move, a public convention will be organised on July 8 at Sivasagar to discuss the issue and chalk out detailed action programme. All political parties, youth and student organisations, media persons and leading citizens will be invited to participate in it, Gogoi added.