Gulf Coast Western (GCW) and its operating partner, Alpine Exploration Cos. Inc., both based in Dallas, confirmed that they have brought under control a well blowout in the Mallard Bay marshlands along the southern coast of Louisiana. The Mary O. Long No. 1 well, which was drilled in Cameron Parish, experienced a blowout on Mar. 3 during completion activities.
The event, which occurred in the Lower Alliance Sand at 12,420-60 ft, is now controlled, the partners said. Completion activities have resumed and production is expected to start in the next 2 weeks.
“Upon reentering the well, we encountered even greater pressures than those experienced by Conoco [Inc.] 30 years ago, and lost control of the well,” said Matthew H. Fleeger, GCW chief executive officer. “We are pleased that Alpine was able to successfully get the well back under control and look forward to placing the well into production in the near future.”
The Mary O. Long No. 1 well was a reentry of a proved oil and gas well drilled by Conoco in the 1980s with multiple logged zones, but abandoned because of several factors at the time including low commodity pricing and the need to construct a production platform and pipeline.
The well tested at extrapolated rates as high as 14.5 Mcfd of gas and 545 b/d of oil prior to the well being brought under control. GCW also expects to produce from the Planulina Sand above the Lower Alliance, bringing the area’s total reserves potential to more than 2 million boe.