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Following the discovery of the damage, the area was cordoned off by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel and the local police. The company’s in-house fire-fighting service has also been put on stand-by.
According to the firm’s officials, the attempt incurred the loss of several barrels of crude, which they will try to salvage. General Manager Bhaskar Bhattacharjee, however, said the loss was less than expected, as the oil was not flowing under pressure.
“Once we get the crude from the tankers, we pump it under pressure to Barauni. One barrel of crude contains around 200 litres,” he said.
The pipeline was for transporting crude from tankers docked at Haldia port to our facility. There was no gas leak or possible exposure to any hazardous material. An area of 150 metres has been cordoned off to avoid mishaps and work is on to repair the damage. “But what is surprising is why would anyone want to pilfer crude oil, which has no use in its present form,” he added. There are also several pipelines belonging to other petroleum companies running parallel to each other.
He said the incident is being investigated. Prasun Bandopadhyay, Additional SP, East Midnapore, said, “The incident was under control and there was no danger to people residing in the area.” Formed as a joint venture with a 50-50 equity participation by the Indian Oil Corporation and Malaysian oil major Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), the firm came up in 1997 to function as an import and marketing facility for LPG. The firm has a 6,00,000 tonne per annum capacity. It is one of the 30-odd companies based in Haldia, the petroleum hub.
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