region. The search for newer avenues has seen OIL spreading out its operations in onshore / offshore Orissa and Andaman, Cauvery offshore, Tamil Nadu, Arabian Sea, deserts of Rajasthan, onshore Andhra Pradesh, riverbeds of Brahmaputra and logistically difficult hilly terrains of the Indian state Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh. In Rajasthan, OIL discovered gas in 1988, heavy oil / bitumen in 1991 and started production of gas in 1996. The company has accumulated over a hundred years of experience in the field of oil and gas production, since the discovery of Digboi oilfield in 1889. The company has over of licensed areas for oil and gas exploration. It has emerged as a consistently profitable International company and present in Libya, Gabon, Nigeria, Sudan, Venezuela, Mozambique, Yemen, Iran, Bangladesh and United States. OIL has recently emerged in the offshore giant gas-field project of Mozambique and also made discovery of oil & gas in Gabon as an Operator and Libya as non-operator. OIL acquired Shale oil asset in United States during 2012. In recent years, Oil India Limited has stepped up exploration and production activities significantly in north-eastern India. OIL has set up its NEF (North East Frontier) project to intensify its exploration activities in the frontier areas in North East, which are logistically very difficult and geologically complex. Presently, exploration activities are in progress along the Trust Belt areas of Arunachal, Assam including Mizoram. The company operates a crude oil pipeline from Duliajan to Barauni, in Bihar. History Oil India was founded on 18 February 1959, with its registered office in Duliajan, Assam, as a privately held oil exploration company. Burmah Oil Company originally held two-thirds of the stock and the Government of India (via the Office of the President) held the rest. This joint venture gave birth to the exploration and drilling at two new sites in Naharkatiya and Moran in Dibrugarh district which had then been just recently discovered. In the Spring of 1961 the company became publicly listed, and later that year the Government of India acquired 50% ownership interest. In 1981, the Government of India acquired 100% of the equity interest in the company which by then controlled all the oilfields of Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts. In 1961, construction of the company's first gas-powered power plant was completed in Duliajan, Assam. IN 1962, a 401 km (16-inch diameter) pipeline from Duliajan to Guwahati was completed. The following year,