"Specialists Working To Kill Apache Well in Gulf"

"Drilling specialists have been pumping heavy fluids into a gas well 50 miles off the Louisiana coast in a bid to halt natural gas moving among underground formations at the site."



"The intervention is taking place roughly two weeks after workers detected a kick, or uncontrolled flow of fluid, at the Apache Corp. well on Feb. 4. Although they activated a blowout preventer in response and apparently were able to keep natural gas from escaping the well, later tests detected the hydrocarbon had migrated from the bottom of the 8,300-foot hole to a shallower sand formation 1,100 feet below the sea floor.

Apache spokesman John Roper said the Houston-based company was 'continuing our efforts to control the migration of gas in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.'

The company had contracted with the well control specialists at Boots & Coots, a Halliburton company, to try and kill the well, generally by pumping drilling muds into the well. That work is underway, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement."

Jennifer A. Dlouhy reports for FuelFix February 19, 2013.

Source: FuelFix, 02/22/2013