Oil India defies militants and resumes drilling
Oil India has defied threats from the outlawed National Socialist Council of Nagaland, or NSCN, and resumed drilling at its one-well Khumsai field in the Chanlang district of Arunachal Pradesh.
B.B Sharma, Chairman, Oil India, tells PETROWATCH he met chief minister Mukut Mithi and chief secretary Lalit Sharma "who assured us of full security." Oil India shut down Khumsai on 31st July following a 1st August deadline to pay Rs60 lakh ($127,000).
"This is the first time we ever received an extortion notice from any militant group," said Sharma. "We were very firm that we would not give in." The NSCN have bases in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland.