A team of Chinese technicians will arrive in Dailekh by the first week of April for a drilling survey to be conducted under the third phase of petroleum products exploration.
The exploration which was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic will be expedited. The first phase of exploration that kicked off in September-October 2019 has been completed. Geologist of Department of Mines and Geology, Ganesh Nath Tripathi confirmed that the Chinese team will arrive for the preparedness of drilling.
The team is expected to be here by April 1. If the trip is delayed, the team will be here by mid-April. It will reach the exploration site and study geological condition and access of road before carrying out drilling works below four kilometres of soil. The team will complete the task in two to three months and submit a report to the government.
The first phase of the exploration works had been completed before the Dashain festival in October as per the agreement reached with the government.
Geologist Tripathi said all four surveys — seismic, geological, magnetotelluric and geochemical sampling — under the first phase were completed by the Chinese government's technical team within the stipulated time in accordance with the agreement.
