BLOWOUT BROUGHT UNDER CONTROL IN GULF OF MEXICO

Greenhill Petroleum Corp., Houston, killed a well blowout Oct. 9 and began cleaning up oil spilled into Timbalier Bay off La Fourche Parish, La.

Development well No. 250 in Timbalier Bay field blew out Sept. 29 while Blake Drilling & Workover Co., Belle Chasse, La., was trying to recomplete it in a deeper zone. Fire broke out as Boots & Coots Inc., Houston, was positioning control equipment at the wellhead (OGJ, Oct. 12, p. 24).

State and federal oil spill response officials estimated the uncontrolled flow of well No. 250 at 1,400 b/d of oil. Coast Guard officials on Oct. 8 upgraded the blowout to a major spill, after deciding that at least 2,500 bbl of oil had gone into the water.

Greenhill Pres. Ralph Cox said most oil released before the fire ignited was captured in field storage tanks. After the fire began, about 85% of the flow burned as it was released, officials estimated.

The Coast Guard estimated that of the 2,500 bbl that reached the water, about 750 bbl evaporated. However, Greenhill cleanup crews reported Oct. 14 they had recovered about 2,600 bbl of oil from the bay.

Cox said most oil that reached the water was captured by about 13,000 ft of containment boom, but small volumes drifted into the Gulf of Mexico and onto beaches on East Timbalier Bay Island.

SNUFFING THE FIRE

Workers finally controlled the well when Boots & Coots Inc., Houston, removed the old blowout preventer (BOP) stack and, with the well still afire, installed a new BOP stack. Boots & Coots then was able to close the rams to snuff out the fire and pump enough fluid into the well to kill it.

At the height of spill control efforts nearly 300 workers were at the blowout and more than a dozen oil skimmers of various capacities were collecting oil from the bay waters.

A relief well Greenhill was drilling to intercept well No. 250's wellbore if surface control operations had failed will be diverted to another target for completion as a producer. When the blowout was controlled, the relief well had reached a depth of about 6,000 ft and was within hours of kicking off toward well No. 250's wellbore.