Utica Shale well blowout in Ohio brought under control
December 24, 2014 5:07 PMBethany McCorkle, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said “surface control” of the 10,653-foot-deep shale gas well, operated by Triad Hunter, a subsidiary of Texas-based Magnum Hunter Resources Corp., was re-established by Wild Well Control, a company specializing in fixing well fires and blowouts.
“The new wellhead has been successfully installed, the values are shut and no more natural gas is being released,” she said in an email response to questions. “Contractors will now pressure test the new wellhead.”
No explosion or fire occurred during the 10 days that well gas emissions flowed out of control, and the well was continuously doused with water to reduce the risk of an explosion. Families in the area were evacuated on Dec. 13 and kept out for several nights. No residents or well workers were injured.
“The local fire department issued an evacuation of 1.5 miles out of an abundance of caution when the incident occurred,” Ms. McCorkle wrote in an email. “Residents were permitted to be in their homes during the day but not during the night. The evacuation was later reduced to a 0.5- mile radius.”
She said the ODNR plans to investigate to determine what caused the well to leak and ensure proper mechanical integrity of the well before the company can resume drilling. Depending on the findings of the investigation, fines are possible, she said.
The well pad is north of Sardis in southeast Ohio and about 100 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. The blowout well, known as “#3UH,” was the first dry gas Utica Shale gas well drilled by Triad Hunter, according to a Feb. 14 news release issued when the well began production.
According to Magnum Hunter, the well was drilled to a vertical depth of more than two miles and had a 5,050-foot horizontal lateral. The lateral was hydraulically fractured or “fracked” in 20 “stages” or sections. It’s initial peak gas production rate was 32.5 million cubic feet per day.
Magnum Hunter posted a statement on its website Tuesday announcing that the blowout had been brought under control and “there is currently no evidence of environmental damage to the immediate area as a result of the blowout.”
The company, which operates in shale gas plays in Ohio, West Virginia and North Dakota, said it does not believe the three other Utica Shale gas wells and one Marcellus Shale gas well on the pad were damaged. It said it anticipates returning all of those wells to production sometime next month.