Authorities approve Buzachi Neft’s action as environmentalists warn of growing damage to regional land and fauna
Оригинальный текст опубликован на сайте «Upstream», 26 July 2023 3:35 GMT . Автор: Материал доступен по .
In its latest effort to gain control a well fire at Kazkahstan’s South Karaturun field, which has been burning since early June, independent gas producer Buzachi Neft has started drilling a directional well to try to reach the bottom of the wellbore at the ill-fated well.
The blowout of a mixture of gas and water on exploration well #303 occurred in the early morning of 9 June when a local drilling contractor, identified as Zaman Energo, was “lifting a drillbit tool from the hole” that had reached a depth of about 1100 metres.
The Mangistau regional department of the country’s Emergency Situations Ministry said its firefighters discovered a 10-metre high fire on their arrival to the site.
However, by the time they arrived at the remote location, the fire had destroyed the well’s christmas tree and its blowout preventer.
A crater has also been formed around the burning gas, escaping from the reservoir estimated to be pressurised in excess of 121 Bars, with the remains of a drilling rig falling inside it, complicating efforts to get the well under control.
Buzachi Neft said it has held numerous consultations with authorities and Kazakh affiliates of international oilfield service contractors Halliburton and SLB to discuss possible options after earlier efforts to use heavy drilling mud to fill the crater and halt the fire failed.
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The operator said a new well may be drilled to a depth of 1200 metres to reach the reservoir penetrated by well #303, which Buzachi Neft believes contains insignificant volumes of gas.
The new well may be used to divert the mixture of escaping gas and water, in an effort to relieve the pressure in the impacted well, reducing the ferocity of the fire and enabling firefighters and equipment to get closer.
Buzachi Neft deputy executive director Daniyar Duysembayev said a second pressure relief well may also be drilled to reach the wellbore of the ill-fated well at a depth of between 400 and 450 metres if needed.
He said that drilling of the first relief well might take at least 20 days. The operator was reported as being ready to spud the well in the beginning of July, but it lacked approvals from authorities.
With the new response plan now approved, September is now seen as the earliest possible timeframe when the fire at the well would be extinguished.
According to Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry, Buzachi Neft reported production of about 6400 barrels per day of oil and 5 million cubic metres per day of gas between January and April this year.
The Mangistau regional office of the Kazakh Green party — Baytaq — has preliminarily estimated Buzachi Neft’s damages from the accident at 1.5 billion tenge ($3.3 million) but said the assessment is likely to grow.
Mangistau environmental issues
According to environmentalists, the fire South Karaturun has added to the existing environmental damage in the Mangistau region — where oil production began in early 1960s — with its unattended or abandoned oilfields where legacy idle wells often slowly leak oil into the ground.
In May, social networks in the region were full of indignation when a user posted pictures of wild horses drinking a mixture of oil and water at an abandoned field.
Additionally, the new operator of the Shalva oilfield that was sold at , has reported finding a dead camel lying next to a seeping old christmas tree as its representatives inspected the acquired asset, Kazakh energy industry social network channel, Energy Monitor, said.
