New Delhi: State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) restored operations at its field in the Bay of Bengal after cyclone Fani hit the coastal state of Odisha but failed to cause any disruption to the public sector undertaking's (PSU) offshore installations. Sources said that ONGC had taken all precautionary measures, stopped operations, evacuated some 500 employees and towed rigs to safer waters ahead of the cyclone. It had started evacuation as early as April 27 and had completed it by May 1.
They added that all operations had been restored and employees were being moved by boats to installations. "There is no loss of production," sources said.
Sources said that ONGC had moved four of its oil rigs that operate off the Andhra coast out of a total of six. It had been moved away from the path of the cyclone earlier this week and are expected to be brought back to their locations in the next two days.
India's eastern coastline is dotted with oil and gas installations. There are three oil refineries and several rigs and offshore platforms that are used to explore and produce oil and gas. While operations at Paradip port in Odisha and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh were hit and ships were moved out to sea to avoid damage, refineries operated normally.