Guwahati: In the first successful step towards dousing the blaze at Baghjan gas well in Assam, a blow out preventer (BOP) could be placed at the mouth of the well, Oil India Limited (OIL) said Monday. The BOP is a very heavy metal cover weighing several tonnes that is placed at the mouth of any gas or oil well to stop leakage of the fuel from under the ground. OIL could place the BOP over the Baghjan 5 gas well head in its third attempt since a major blowout took place May 27.
“The well capping operation was initiated this (Monday) morning and the capping BOP stack was successfully placed over the well head. The 16 studs have also been tightened,” OIL said in a statement.
The second attempt to shut the damaged gas well at the Baghjan gas well had failed August 10 when an iron cable to lift the BOP snapped. An attempt to shut the well faced a setback July 31 when the wagon or hydraulic lift used to put a lid on the mouth gave in and ‘toppled over’.
OIL will now start the ‘killing’ of the well in order to block the uncontrollable gas flow and douse the raging fire.
“The preparations for killing operations are on. The BOP and the lines connected to it are being kept cool through continuous spraying of water,” the statement said.
Also read: Second attempt to cap Oil India’s Baghjan well fails
A well kill is the operation of placing a column of heavy fluid into a well bore in order to prevent the flow of reservoir fluids without the need for pressure control equipment at the surface.
The well number 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district has been spewing gas uncontrollably for the last 83 days since May 27. It caught fire June 9, killing two firefighters of OIL at the site.
Three experts from Singaporean firm – Alert Disaster Control – received burn injuries July 22 while they were removing a spool from the well head.
PTI