Chandigarh, July 7: The Punjab hydrocarbon survey has faced a delay of more than 20 months following continuous opposition from farming organizations across six districts. The project, commissioned by Oil India Limited (OIL), has seen successive attempts to initiate field operations fail since its scheduled launch in October 2024 due to a persistent deadlock with local agricultural bodies.
Company representatives stated that field teams have encountered severe resistance while trying to execute the contract, which was originally supposed to be completed within 18 months. A senior project official declared, “The company has missed several deadlines due to protests by farmers, and while the timeline has been extended multiple times, the latest deadline is now nearing its end.” Operations handled by Asian Energy Services Ltd and DS Geo Services Pvt Ltd have resulted in only three drill shot holes being created so far, all of which were reportedly filled back up by protesters.
The survey is designed to map a 168-kilometer stretch across Muktsar, Bathinda, Faridkot, Moga, Jalandhar, and Kapurthala by drilling 25 shot holes per kilometer for data collection. Rural communities have blocked the work due to concerns that any discovery of underground resources would trigger widespread government land acquisition. Protesters have also raised apprehensions regarding potential damage to tube wells, reduced crop productivity, and the contamination or depletion of local groundwater resources.
