Gas 'blow-out' averted at Oil India well in Assam
Oil India is full of praise for ONGC and contractor Techno Canada which helped avert a ‘blowout’ at ‘nomination acreage’ near the state-owned junior explorer’s Duliajan headquarters in Assam.
PETROWATCH learns Techno Canada replaced the ‘Christmas tree’ at a gas-producing Oil India well located about 10-km from Duliajan town in mid-November, following a gas ‘leak’ detected in October. “We heard a loud sound from the well and discovered a valve under the (old) Christmas tree was leaking,” recalls a senior Oil India source.
“Luckily there was no damage.” Oil India, he adds, immediately lowered production at the 20-year old well from 100,000 cm/d of gas to 20,000 cm/d.
“First we tried to contain the leak by ‘killing’ the well but couldn’t do it,” we hear. On hand were Techno Canada and ONGC’s ‘crisis management team’ who rushed to Oil India’s rescue, discovering the problem lay with ‘coil tubing’ installed 1200 metres deep in the well, which has a TD of 2800 metres.
“The ‘casing’ was also faulty,” adds a source. “It was a serious problem.
” Fortunately, Techno Canada managed to ‘cap’ the well in three days. “Oil India is now killing the well by using mud, cement and other material,” we learn.
On November 17, Oil India sent a team of ‘geological and geophysical’ or G&G experts to carry out a ‘pressure survey.’ “Our team read pressure and temperature at the well-site,” we hear.
“The ‘well-head’ pressure is 700-psi. We’ll share these findings with ONGC’s crisis management team and decide next steps soon.
” Another company source adds Oil India might consider reservoir and resume gas production as soon as possible.