A Relief Well to Be Drilled in Gulf of Mexico

After a well-control incident, accompanying a rig fire, a relief well is about to be drilled with the purpose of securing a natural gas well on South Timbalier Block 220, and worker boarded the Hercules 265 jack up rig to install gas detectors and water jet fire monitors of high capacity, officials said.

The company, Walter Oil & Gas Corp., has lost the control of Well A-3 when the work on a sidetrack well is completing. It stimulates 44 workers to evacuate safely from the Hercules 265 jack up rig. Later on the same day, leaking gas ignited a fire on the rig.

On July 25, Well A-3, which was in 154 feet of water, bridged over as sand and sediment stopped the gas flow, eventually, extinguishing the fire on the rig.

On July 27, the project of drilling a relief well is permitted by the US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), and Walter Oil & Gas hired the Rowan EXL-3 jack up rig. The jack up rig has set anchor at South Timbalier 220, the relief well being expected to be drilled 55 mile off Louisiana.

Hercules Offshore, the drilling contractor, said that though the Hercules 265 was damaged to a certain extent, the structure was still integrally intact. There is now a 500-m safety zone around the site maintained by the US Coast Guard, firefighting and other marine vessels not pulling back and staying on the spot with staff of Walter, Hercules, and other contractors, and federal agencies. In addition, a Superior Derrick Services barge is standing by to offer assistance to any possible well intervention activity.

Now BSEE and USCG are inquiring the cause of this accidental loss of well control. 

(Edited by Jeasin)