– Nara Bahadur Rijal
Kathmandu, October 15: The second phase of petroleum exploration works is going to be started soon at Shiristhan, Navisthan, among other places in Dailekh where there is possibility of large quantity of petroleum reserve. The second phase exploration works are being undertaken as per the agreement signed between the Government of Nepal and the Government of the People’s Republic of China.
It is said the exploration this time will determine the quantity of petroleum and the places of its location. A team of experts from China visited Dailekh for second time before Dashain for making arrangements from the fuel and tools required for the second phase petroleum exploration works. The team has also selected the area where the expert’s team will camp out during the exploration.
The team has returned to Kathmandu after holding discussions with the Chief District Officer, the lawmakers from Dalekh district and the people’s representatives. It is said the team will start works immediately after Dashain festival. The team had arrived in Dailekh on July 11, 2019, for the inauguration of the petroleum exploration works and returned after 15 days.
At that time the team had carried out on-site study of various places of Dailekh and it again arrived here in the second week of Asoj for consultations regarding various topics related to the petroleum exploration, Chief District Officer Yuba Raj Kattel said. Ganesh Raj Tripathi, who is involved with the petroleum exploration project in Dailekh, said the materials required for the exploration would arrive in Kathmandu immediately after Dashain and the team will come to the district along with these materials soon after that.
The Chinese government specialist team will be conducting the geological survey and magnet survey after Dashain in continuation of the preliminary exploration works it had begun following the inauguration in the presence of Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supply, Matrika Yadav.
The quantity of petroleum reserve can be known after drilling the ground up to five kilometres deep and the exploration would be carried out accordingly, it is learnt. Second phase exploration will determine the quantity of petroleum reserve and its location. The government will then prepare its strategy on how to go about this after the conclusion of the second phase exploration works. RSS
