Photo courtesy of Gabriel Mendoza
UPDATE 2 FROM WPX ENERGY: Fire Weakening
Posted on July 12, 2016 by wpxenergy
A fire that started late Monday evening at a WPX oil production site in San Juan County, New Mexico, is lessening in strength early Tuesday morning.
More than 50 emergency responders and WPX personnel are involved in the response effort that has kept the fire contained on the company’s five-acre site where six new oil wells and more than 30 temporary oil storage tanks are located.
No injuries or damage to adjacent property has been reported. State police have restricted traffic in the area as a precautionary measure to help protect a half-mile perimeter around the fire, but no road closures have occurred.
The site is located about two miles south of Nageezi, N.M., near the intersection of County Road 7890 and State Highway 550. The company has provided lodging to three families who were displaced by the fire.
All operations at the site remain shut-in. The company has stopped the oil wells from pumping and closed valves to pipes that were transferring oil to the storage tanks.
Officials expect the fire to burn out over the next few hours. This approach was the safest way to protect fire fighters from the intensity of the heat and to limit the possibility of oil spreading off-site.
Public services from San Juan County, Sandoval County, Farmington, the New Mexico State Police and the Navajo Nation have been instrumental in the response.
The cause of the incident is not known at this time. An investigation will commence once the fire is completely out.
Initial reports about a drilling rig explosion at the site were erroneous. No drilling activity was taking place at the site prior to the storage tanks catching on fire.
Drilling on the new wells actually ended in early May. The wells were completed in June and began producing oil during the first week of July.
The company will provide further information as it becomes available. Media inquiries can be directed to Kelly Swan at (918) 629-1037.
==================================Massive fire at San Juan County oil and gas rig
Fire too hot to extinguish
Published 5:34 AM MDT Jul 12, 2016SAN JUAN CO., N.M. —Fire crews are battling a massive fire at an oil and gas rig in San Juan County Tuesday morning.
The fire started around 10:15 p.m. Monday night on WPX property near Nageezi. A company spokesperson told Action 7 News fire crews have surrounded the fire, but they are letting it burn because it’s is too hot for firefighters to get close.
Around 30 oil storage tanks caught on fire and drilling in the area has stopped. WPX wants to make sure residents in the area are safe and they are trying to keep the fire contained to their property. Fortunately, no one has been injured and all employees, contractors and families in the area are accounted for.
WPX does not know how the fire started, but they say it is expected to burn for several hours. Once it dies down, fire crews will move in to extinguish it.
The Nageezi Chapter House is open to anyone who needs a place to stay or those who have any questions about the fire.
WPX produces oil in the southern end of the San Juan Basin from the Gallup Sandstone and has a legacy natural gas position in the northern end of the basin, including considerable dry Mancos upside at higher commodity prices. WPX has one rig deployed in the basin.
San Juan Basin production averaged 33.1 Mboe per day in the first quarter, which is 10 percent higher than a year ago.
Higher natural gas volumes drove the increase. WPX’s LOE for all of its operations in the basin averaged $4.04 per barrel in the first quarter, down 22 percent vs. $5.16 per barrel a year ago.
WPX drilled seven wells (gross) in the Gallup oil play in the first quarter. Drilling on a six-well pad in the West Lybrook unit commenced in February. Completions on the pad are scheduled to begin in May.
WPX is averaging 7.9 days for 1-mile laterals and 8.6 days for 1.5-mile laterals in the San Juan Basin so far this year. WPX’s best time in the basin for a 1.5-mile lateral to date is 7.5 days.
Additionally, WPX received final approval from the Bureau of Land Management to form the Kimbeto Wash unit.
WPX has plans for up to 23 laterals in the unit averaging 7,000 feet per lateral. The company now has six federal units approved in its Gallup development area.