'Hidden Hero' of Assam blowout: Ranjit Rath
Oil India chairman Ranjit Rath is winning praise as the 'Hidden Hero' for his work behind the scenes to resolve ONGC's potentially calamitous blowout in Assam.
On June 27 (2025), ONGC celebrated the successful capping of well RDS#147A at the 70.5-sq km Rudrasagar PML after it spewed gas for 15 days. Soon after, many at ONGC and Oil India began analysing who to blame and who to praise.
Rath's name is on the lips of both Oil India and ONGC sources, who remind us he is a reputable geophysicist, explaining why the oil ministry enlisted his help to resolve the blowout. "Rath was part of every morning meeting during the crisis; every day he was in touch with the ONGC chairman (Arun Singh)," reveals a senior ONGC source.
He adds that Rath attended the daily strategy meetings along with senior ONGC and DGH officials. "It was Rath who contacted (US-based well control experts) Cudd (Pressure Control) to cap the well," adds our ONGC source.
Through the crisis, Oil India experts from the Duliajan office were on the ground in Rudrasagar, as were ONGC experts from several work centres. An Oil India source adds Rath kept a low profile but worked hard behind the scenes to resolve the crisis.
He did not visit the site but visited Duliajan for a board meeting and kept track of developments. Our source adds that it makes sense Rath contacted Cudd since Oil India had signed two MoUs in 2023-24 for on-call crisis management services with Oklahoma-based Cudd and Houston-based Wild Well Control under a three-year price framework.
"Rath could obviously just pick up the phone and call them," he adds. Oil India's agreement with Cudd was part of an exercise to prevent future disasters like its BGN-5 blowout on May 27 (2020) that left three Oil India workers dead and cost the company millions in damages and compensation.
Based on Oil India's agreement with Cudd, the well control experts came to ONGC's rescue. "That agreement allowed us to lean on them (Cudd) for help," admits a senior ONGC source.