Lekh is located at a distance of 9 km from the headquarters, by Jalaj. This place in Bhairavi Rural Municipality-1 is now in the limelight due to the discovery of natural gas. The place, which is located across the Madhyapahari highway, has been cordoned off under the protection of the armed police. But the eyes of highway travelers are often drawn to this place. Even though some vehicles are stopped from outside the perimeter, they do not go to the destination without taking photos and videos.

In terms of work, this area has been mostly deserted for 8 months. Locals demand that work should be started quickly in the area spread over 45 farms and that they should be given the first priority for employment. 66-year-old local Dhirj Thapa says that starting a good job should not be delayed. 

'The real estate is gone, now it should be better,' she says, 'even if the squatters had to live as they are now, it would have been better later.' She said that the village would develop if it was established as an industry until the time of her sons and grandsons. This statement is not only his, but the demand of most of the locals in the village is that natural gas should be produced and developed as an industry as soon as possible to give them employment. 

The Department of Mines and Geology started the study and research since 2019 after realizing that there is natural gas in that place. Prakash Luintel, a geologist working in the Petroleum Exploration Planning Office under the Department of Mines and Geology, said that 4,130 cubic meters of drilling has been completed. "With the financial and technical support of the Chinese government, studies and exploration were conducted in various areas of Nepal that have potential minerals," he said.

Mines and Geology and China Geological Survey have explored it, he said. The drilling work was done by Shibu Drilling Engineering Company of China. "Now we are waiting for its final report. China will send a report by the end of 2025," he said.

'It has been seen that there is natural gas in the area that has been explored so far, it is the first time in Nepal's exploration history that natural gas has been discovered when drilling to this depth,' he said, 'For now, it is not crude oil but natural gas.'

After that, the work of storage evaluation will remain, he said. What is the nature of gas? From the study, it is concluded that it is not appropriate to take it to the production stage," he said. "The Chinese government has invested two and a half billion rupees in the study." He said that after the drilling was completed in January, it was sent to China for testing at the end of January. "Now we are in the initial stage, a conclusion can be reached after the study and research phase is over," he said, "There is methane gas, it has been discovered, we will reach the result only after evaluating the storage inside it." 

According to the preliminary report, the department said that there is 112 billion cubic meters of natural gas. According to the preliminary report given by the Chinese team, it is estimated that Nepal has natural gas that will last for 50 years. It is mentioned in the preliminary study that there is 112 billion cubic meters in one place and there are also three other storages. 

The chief district officer of Dailekh, Badrinath Gayre, said that the Chinese technician who had studied the matter had received information that he would give a report by mid-Pus (December). "A few days ago, a team from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply came and studied and returned," he said. Nothing worked from that tool. The District Administration Office Dailekh said that the equipment has been put on hold because there will be no further work until the study report comes. 

In the first week of August, a study committee was formed from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supply under the coordination of Director of Oil Corporation, Vineetmani Upadhyay, and the Executive Director of Nepal Oil Corporation, Chandika Prasad Bhatt, said that it has already completed the on-site study. A four-member study committee has been formed, including a senior geologist from the Department of Mines and Geology, a chemical engineer from the Ministry of Industry and a chemical engineer from the Oil Corporation.

"Should the study committee formed in this way use the methane gas found in Dailekh for cooking, or use hydrogen gas for transportation operations or use it to open a chemical fertilizer factory?" he said, "The study committee will give a report covering all these topics, based on that report, the government will assign responsibility to an agency and utilize it."  He said that the

report will be submitted to the ministry and based on that, an 'action plan' will be made. "We have a large network dealing with petroleum products, the infrastructure and human resources are also sufficient," he said, "we will work to put it into use as soon as the government gives the responsibility to the oil corporation." He said that cooking gas will be given priority.

'After that we give priority to transportation, if domestically produced gas can be used for cooking, LP gas import will be replaced,' he said, 'It will also help to reduce the growing trade deficit.' Gas is brought by Indian shippers. About 6 billion is spent on transportation costs when gas is imported. The corporation says that billions of rupees will be saved if it can be produced locally. According to

corporation, LP gas is a low pressure gas. The pressure of methane gas is high. "It can be supplied through a pipeline or a cylinder that can withstand high pressure can be made and sent to the market, it can be consumed for industrial purposes," he said. According to him, the government is planning to build a chemical fertilizer factory and now about 28 billion is being spent annually on purchasing fertilizers. "The best option is to operate a fertilizer factory with methane gas," he said, "but the first priority is cooking gas."

The first phase of exploration is over. Its initial report has already arrived. There have been reports of methane gas. Its study was done with the help of the Chinese government. Chinese technicians have taken the sample extracted by drilling in the first stage. Its detailed report (report) has not yet arrived. That report will also come by December. The drilling work to be done in the first phase has been completed. The second step is to test the product. Nepal government has requested China for this. The process for the work to be done in the second phase has already started. This does not require a detailed report. Based on the initial report. The second phase of test production will be started from the Chinese company that contracted first. which is currently in process.  What is the process after the

test is produced?  After the

test is produced, the government has started the discussion regarding the modality (format) to be conducted. A lot can be done with methane gas. It can be used directly as a gas, in transport. One can also go into petroleum products production and electrification. Chemical fertilizers can also be made. A four-member committee under the coordination of the director of the oil corporation has also been formed to study the situation in which more production can be carried out. The committee has conducted an on-site study. Analyzing the things mentioned in the initial

report, the formed committee will analyze what will benefit Nepal more in terms of cost while moving to commercial production after trial production. Will come from study. Its modality is determined by looking at all these things. 

Locals are complaining about not getting compensation, how has the ministry addressed it?

As much land has been taken for trial production, it has been taken after completing the compensation process. If more land is needed, the government will take it after completing the compensation process. The process is progressing through the Government-Government (G2G) modality that the government has previously done with China for test production. The main thing is that it is a professional product. Chinese technical equipment is in the same place as the drilling. So it will be convenient for testing products. How long does

take to go into commercial production?

According to the initial report, the test can be produced within three months of the start of work. There are many processes to go through to go into commercial production. Which modality to go to? What to take out? If only gas is to be distributed directly, then there are issues of storage. There are things like pipelines, processing. It takes some time to go to commercial production only after assessing what is beneficial. Things going into commercial production are being studied. Its cost needs to be estimated. It has not been decided whether the work will be done by the government or by the private sector. Other news related to