Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, has shut more than 3,000 producing vertical wells, or a total of 13,000 net boe/d of production, in northeast Colorado following a home explosion and fire in Firestone on Apr. 17. Two men were killed in the incident, which is being investigated by the Colorado Oil & Gas Conservation Commission.
Anadarko said it operates an older vertical well that’s about 200 ft from where the home was recently built. As such, the firm has been working with fire officials and state regulatory agencies in their investigations since the time of the explosion. The well was drilled by a previous operator in 1993.
The wells will remain shut in until the company’s field personnel can conduct additional inspections and testing of the associated equipment, such as facilities and underground lines associated with each wellhead. The firm holds 400,000 net acres in the DJ basin development area.
Anadarko said particular focus is being placed on areas where housing and commercial developments are occurring in close proximity to existing infrastructure. The wells will not be restarted until each has undergone and passed these additional inspections.
The firm currently anticipates the process will take 2-4 weeks depending on weather.