Fire breaks out after natural gas leak from ONGC pipeline linked to rig in sea in Yanam

A major fire broke out after natural gas leaked from an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) pipeline while it was being supplied through the 23-km pipeline from an offshore rig in the Bay of Bengal to the onshore plant in Yanam in the Puducherry Union Territory.

“At around 1.10 a.m, on Friday (August 22), the Yanam people woke up to find the flames emerging from the pipeline on the Dariyala Tippa island-3, where the natural gas had leaked from the ONGC’s pipeline. The apparent reason for the leakage is the pressure of the natural gas,” Yanam Regional Administrator R. Mounissamy told The Hindu. The ONGC natural gas processing plant is barely three kilometre distance from spot where the gas leaked. 

“The ONGC team, which rushed to the spot later, has plugged the leakage from the pipeline. It also stopped the supply of natural gas from source — the rig in the sea,” added Mr. Mounissamy. 

When contacted, ONGC-Offshore operations authorities confirmed that there was no casualty and the pipeline has been plugged. The technical team is monitoring the pipeline. The operation of the ONGC facilities near the Dariyala Tippa island has been stopped until further preparedness for safe operations, according to an official release issued by the ONGC-Kakinada.