By Karuna Thapa
Kathmandu, March 15
A Chinese delegation that was supposed to explore petroleum products in Dailekh has been
delayed in Nepal. Due to Chinese government restrictions on overseas visits as a result of the Corona infection, Chinese technicians have been unable to travel to Nepal.
The schedule will be changed now, according to Department of Mines and Geology Information Officer Narayan Baskota. He stated, ”We expect the Chinese technological study work to be finished by April next year.”
On April 1, 2021, a team of Chinese technicians and specialists was planned to arrive. The
Chinese team, however, was unable to return to Nepal owing to the Corona pandemic.
The state of the petroleum mine in Dailekh, as well as the potential of commercial excavation, will be decided following the last phase of the Chinese team’s examination. The quantity of petroleum stored in the local region will be known when the last phase of drilling is completed.
If the petroleum mine can be operated, the investigation report will also discuss its technical features of it.
After completing the first part of the seismic survey, the Chinese technical team went home in February 2020. Because there is a chance of petroleum mining in the region examined in the first phase of the study, the Chinese team should travel to Nepal to complete the task, which includes drilling.
At the exploration location, a 35-meter-long iron pipe (reg) must be carried for drilling. The
duty of supplying exploration, however, is difficult due to the narrowness of the route and the tiny turns.
Previously, a seismic survey of 400 square kilometers was carried out in the Dailekh regions of Nabisthan, Shristhan, and Paduka. After the first phase of petroleum exploration gave excellent findings in magnetotelluric geological survey and geochemical sampling survey, it was agreed to press forward with the next part of the study.
Work on the last part of the survey will include penetrating up to four kilometers deep. Bhairavi Municipality of Dailekh, Dullu Municipality, Dungeshwor Municipality, Chamunda Bindrasaini Municipality, Mahabu Municipality, and some sections of Narayan Municipality will be used for petroleum product exploration.
In 2015, Nepal and China agreed to collaborate on petroleum product discovery and extraction. A project was authorized in January 2019 to allow China to perform comprehensive exploration of petroleum and gas mines in two Nepalese areas.
According to the agreement, in February 2020, the Chinese government’s Department of Mines and Geology and the Geological Survey Company agreed to provide Rs 2.4 billion in financial and technical help for the exploration and extraction of petroleum products in Dailekh.
China and Nepal have collaborated on a strategy to put this agreement into effect. A team of Chinese specialists agreed to undertake a geological and petroleum survey in the Dailekh area in the first phase (10 months) in order to locate a drilling site in Dailekh.
Drilling operations in the Dailekh region will be finished in the second phase, according to the plan (11 to 28 months). It was said that a survey report will be prepared after examining the total petroleum geological situation in Nepal in the third phase (29 to 36 months).
However, because of the Corona outbreak, construction on the project has been halted for the past two years. The exploration of petroleum products from Nabisthan of Dailekh was initiated in October 2019 by then-Minister of Industry Matrika Yadav.
The Chinese side is covering all costs associated with the probe. The investigative work in Palpa will begin with the support of China if the probe in Dailekh is successful, according to the department.
