By Syed Zarir Hussain
Guwahati, Sept 26 (IANS) The S.S. Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) Wednesday warned a Canadian and an Indian oil exploration firm against carrying out any work in Nagaland.
“We shall not allow any oil companies to extract crude or carry out other exploratory works in Nagaland without our permission,” NSCN-K spokesman Kughalo Mulatonu told IANS by telephone from an undisclosed location in Nagaland.
The threat follows reports that Canoro Resources Ltd and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) were to soon begin exploration work jointly in the northeastern state.
The two oil majors had already signed a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) for exploration, development and production activities in six blocks in Nagaland.
“It is in the interest of the Naga people that we are taking such a step. Any attempt to violate our diktat would be dealt with sternly,” the rebel leader said.
The six blocks include five exploration blocks and the producing block at Changpang – a field where the ONGC suspended operation in 1994 following threats from Naga rebels.
An estimated 1,000 barrels per day of crude oil is expected to be produced from the Changpang field alone despite the terrain being rocky.
Nagaland is virtually sitting on a multi-million dollar oil reserve with rough estimates indicating that the state has the potential to yield some 600 million tonnes of petroleum.
“The government of India must treat the NSCN faction led by Isak Chisi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah as terrorists or else the ban on the ONGC would remain,” the rebel leader said.
The two NSCN factions are engaged in a bitter fratricidal war over territorial supremacy since their split in 1988.
The NSCN-K accuses the rival faction of banning ONGC’s operation in 1994 and selling all their equipment.
“Let the Indian government file a lawsuit against the NSCN-IM for the loss incurred by the ONGC. We want ONGC to come and work here so that our people get employment. But then we want the government to first book the NSCN-IM and until such time the ban on the ONGC would continue,” Mulatonu said.
ONGC, India’s premier oil exploration firm, was forced to withdraw from Nagaland in 1994 after threats from the NSCN-IM and other tribal bodies.
ONGC had earlier carried out exploratory works in Nagaland’s Wokha district and now plans to work in Mon and Dimapur districts.
There is no immediate reaction from ONGC or Canoro representatives on the NSCN-K threat.
“From our side we are committed to giving adequate security and protection to the oil companies,” a police official said.