IOC to pay Rs50 crore immediate relief to units hit by Jaipur fire accident

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) will pay Rs50 crore as immediate relief to various affected units through Rajasthan Industrial Development and Investment Corporation (RIICO). This was announced at a meeting of petroleum minister Murli Deora with the Rajasthan energy minister.

Deora also held a meeting of the chief executives of various oil companies - both public and private - including multinationals, today to review the safety and security aspects of oil and gas sector.

The meeting decided that all oil and gas installations in the country would carry out self-safety audit confirming to statutory norms, including Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) standards by 31 December 2009. The oil companies will submit the reports to OISD, which in turn will submit a consolidated report to petroleum ministry.

OISD will be empowered with statutory status. OISD will also be further strengthened with additional manpower from oil companies.

All oil and gas companies in the country will have their standard operating procedures (SOPs) for operations and maintenance practices for all countrywide installations/set-ups under due technical supervision and attention. A strict implementation of such standard operating procedure (SOPs) will be ensured. All oil and gas companies will submit reports on having SOPs and its due implementation to OISD by 31 December 2009.

All major as well as minor incidents in any oil and gas installations/set-ups in the country, including that of private companies, will be reported to OISD.