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Apache natural gas well has leak beneath floor of U.S. Gulf
NEW YORK | Sat Feb 16, 2013 1:58pm EST
Feb 16 (Reuters) - Natural gas from a well being drilled by Apache Corporation in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has flowed underground, leading U.S. regulators to order the company to prepare to drill a relief well to control the flow if necessary, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.
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BSEE Responds to Well Control Event
February 14, 2013- BSEE is responding today to a report from offshore oil and gas operator Apache Corporation of an underground flow of natural gas at an exploratory well being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 50 miles east of Venice, LA. There is no detection of gas at the seafloor or pollution at the location.
The rig was drilling in 218 feet water depth with a blowout preventer located on the rig. When the initial well control event occurred, Apache successfully activated the blowout preventer to prevent gas from flowing to the surface. The underground flow was detected through additional testing.
Non-essential personnel have been removed from the drilling rig. BSEE is overseeing Apache's well control efforts. As a contingency, BSEE has directed Apache to make preparations to have an additional drilling rig onsite.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
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Feb. 14, 2013
Apache Corporation
Updates
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Gulf of Mexico update
On Feb. 5, during drilling operations at Main Pass 295 in the Gulf of Mexico utilizing the Ensco 87 rig, Apache took a kick from an abnormally pressured gas zone. The well was shut in, and the blowout preventers are functioning properly. Apache is working with well control experts from Boots and Coots to kill the well. Diagnostic procedures indicated an underground migration from the bottom of the well (8,261 feet) to another sand formation at approximately 1,100 feet. At the direction of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Apache is preparing to move the Rowan Cecil Provine, another drilling rig currently under contract with Apache, to the location in the event it is determined that drilling a relief well is necessary.
There were no injuries associated with the incident.
We evacuated non-essential personnel from the rig, and notified the government. Safety and equipment procedures have worked as designed and tested.
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IncidentNews Home >> Incident
Apache Rig, Main Pass 295
<!-- *** BEGIN page content *** --><TABLE summary="table for layout only"><TBODY><TR><TD id=content-with-sidebar><TABLE summary="table for layout only"><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>20 mi Offshore LA 2013-Feb-15 </TD></TR><TR><TD>On 15FEB13, USCG Sector New Orleans contacted NOAA SSC in regards to a potential release of crude oil and condensate from an exploratory well being drilled about 50 mi east of Venice, LA. There is concern about an underground flow of natural gas at the site and non-essential personnel have evacuated from the shallow-water platform. The well's blow-out preventer was successfully closed. There is currently no pollution release and operations are underway to fully secure the well. USCG requests a trajectory of the worse-case discharge as a precaution.
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View map
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Note: Documents are posted chronologically and early reports likely contain factual errors. These errors may be corrected in a later report.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><HR class=divider SIZE=1 width="100%">Incident Details
Spill, potential spill, or other: Potential Oil Spill
Cause of incident: Well Blowout
Products of concern: Crude Oil and Condensate
Total amount at risk of spill: 0 - 31940 barrels
Latitude (approximate): 29? 16.12' North
Longitude (approximate): 88? 38.07' West
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NEW YORK | Sat Feb 16, 2013 1:58pm EST
Feb 16 (Reuters) - Natural gas from a well being drilled by Apache Corporation in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has flowed underground, leading U.S. regulators to order the company to prepare to drill a relief well to control the flow if necessary, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said.
...
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BSEE Responds to Well Control Event
February 14, 2013- BSEE is responding today to a report from offshore oil and gas operator Apache Corporation of an underground flow of natural gas at an exploratory well being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 50 miles east of Venice, LA. There is no detection of gas at the seafloor or pollution at the location.
The rig was drilling in 218 feet water depth with a blowout preventer located on the rig. When the initial well control event occurred, Apache successfully activated the blowout preventer to prevent gas from flowing to the surface. The underground flow was detected through additional testing.
Non-essential personnel have been removed from the drilling rig. BSEE is overseeing Apache's well control efforts. As a contingency, BSEE has directed Apache to make preparations to have an additional drilling rig onsite.
More information will be released as it becomes available.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb. 14, 2013
Apache Corporation
Updates
Home>Newsroom>Latest from Apache>Updates
<!--#content-begin#--><!--[p4ab5304bfe95b90fdb09fc0acb33a422]-->
Download PDFGulf of Mexico update
On Feb. 5, during drilling operations at Main Pass 295 in the Gulf of Mexico utilizing the Ensco 87 rig, Apache took a kick from an abnormally pressured gas zone. The well was shut in, and the blowout preventers are functioning properly. Apache is working with well control experts from Boots and Coots to kill the well. Diagnostic procedures indicated an underground migration from the bottom of the well (8,261 feet) to another sand formation at approximately 1,100 feet. At the direction of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Apache is preparing to move the Rowan Cecil Provine, another drilling rig currently under contract with Apache, to the location in the event it is determined that drilling a relief well is necessary.
There were no injuries associated with the incident.
We evacuated non-essential personnel from the rig, and notified the government. Safety and equipment procedures have worked as designed and tested.
- There are no bubbles on the surface
- Divers have verified there is no breach on the seafloor
- This event involves natural gas; there are no associated hydrocarbon liquids involved
- We evacuated 15 people; we currently have approximately 50 people onboard.
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IncidentNews Home >> Incident
Apache Rig, Main Pass 295
<!-- *** BEGIN page content *** --><TABLE summary="table for layout only"><TBODY><TR><TD id=content-with-sidebar><TABLE summary="table for layout only"><TBODY><TR><TD align=left>20 mi Offshore LA 2013-Feb-15 </TD></TR><TR><TD>On 15FEB13, USCG Sector New Orleans contacted NOAA SSC in regards to a potential release of crude oil and condensate from an exploratory well being drilled about 50 mi east of Venice, LA. There is concern about an underground flow of natural gas at the site and non-essential personnel have evacuated from the shallow-water platform. The well's blow-out preventer was successfully closed. There is currently no pollution release and operations are underway to fully secure the well. USCG requests a trajectory of the worse-case discharge as a precaution.
</TD><TD style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; VERTICAL-ALIGN: top">
View map
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>Note: Documents are posted chronologically and early reports likely contain factual errors. These errors may be corrected in a later report.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><HR class=divider SIZE=1 width="100%">Incident Details
Spill, potential spill, or other: Potential Oil Spill
Cause of incident: Well Blowout
Products of concern: Crude Oil and Condensate
Total amount at risk of spill: 0 - 31940 barrels
Latitude (approximate): 29? 16.12' North
Longitude (approximate): 88? 38.07' West
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
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