Fire in Oil India's oil well in Assam

TINSUKIA/DIBRUGARH: A fire broke out in an oil well of Oil India Ltd in upper Assam's Tinsukia district early this morning.

No injury or casualty has been been reported so far. OIL spokesman Jishnu Sarma said the fire in a cruse oil well at Chandmari village was reported around 1 AM. OIL's fire tenders doused the blaze around 5 AM and the well was sealed.

Investigations said that the fire broke out due to an attempt to steal oil from the well.

The thieves made a hole in the oil well's high pressure `xmas tree' valve causing hydro carbon to come out in liquid form. It caught fire due to the difference in temperature inside the well and outside it, the spokesman said, adding OIL and police were keeping a strict vigil to prevent repeated attempts at theft of condensed oil from the wells in the area.

Meanwhile, the Paresh Baruah-led anti-talk ULFA faction in an email to PTI claimed responsibility for the fire, saying the outfit had caused a blast in the oil well.

However, Sarma said there was no blast in the oil well as claimed by the ULFA.