DIBRUGARH: Three veteran well control specialists from Cudd Well Control, US, began intensive site preparations on Saturday to bring under control a massive gas blowout of ONGC’s Rudrasagar (RDS147A) rig in Assam’s Sivasagar district.The experts, who flew in from Houston, arrived in Sivasagar on Friday after multiple attempts by ONGC’s crisis management team failed to stop the leakage, which happened on June 12.The deployment of US team – experts in blowout control since 1977 – signals a critical escalation in efforts to contain the situation, which has already seen evacuation of 350 families from affected area, currently housed in relief camps.While ONGC has not yet officially confirmed whether the well will be permanently sealed, Assam CM, Himanta Biswa Sarma, on Friday said the corporation will “permanently cap” the well. ONGC’s latest press release on Saturday, though, talked only about “containment efforts”.“The experts have expressed their agreement with the strategy and execution carried out to date, reaffirming the effectiveness of ONGC’s approach to safely managing the well,” ONGC said in the statement.Based on a forward plan, jointly developed by US specialists and ONGC teams, extensive site preparations are underway to facilitate the next critical phase of containment operations.