By BOB CHRISTIE
Californian staff writer
e-mail: bchristie@bakersfield.com
LOST HILLS — Crews drilling a replacement for a wildcat
well that was destroyed in a blazing blowout last November
have struck pay dirt once again, more than three miles deep.
High pressure natural gas is again being burned at the site 40
miles west of Bakersfield, with orange flames leaping more than
50 feet at times.
But unlike last year's blowout, which blazed for more than two
weeks and flowed uncontrolled for six months before well
control specialists gained the upper hand, the gas now is burning
in a controlled flare.
The flare shows that a totally new California natural gas field
should soon appear on the maps of the state division of Oil,
Gas, and Geothermal Resources.
Estimates of potential gas reserves made by some participating
companies exceed 1 trillion cubic feet, which, if proven, would
make it a world-class gas discovery.
Drillers have pushed their bits more than 200 feet into the
gas-bearing formation that is more than 17,000 feet deep, and
have encountered more than one rock layer saturated with very
high pressures of gas. They are flaring some of the gas because
of pressure variations between different layers, which creates
technical problems for the crews.
Canadian public companies involved include Elk Point
Resources, Berkley Petroleum, Westminster Resources,
Paramount Resources, Richland Petroleum, Kookaburra
Resources and Hilton Petroleum; PYR Energy is U.S.-based.
The first well blew out in spectacular fashion on Nov. 23 and
burned fiercely for two weeks before water began flowing with
the gas, eventually putting out the fire. After failing to stop the
gas and water from flowing through the blown well, the current
well was drilled to serve as a relief well. The relief well
succeeded in intersecting the blown well and "killing" it on May
28.
That well bore was then redirected to enter the formation again,
and crews entered the zone late last week.
Gas shows and high pressure were immediate, and a slow and
careful drilling plan is now under way to try to bring the well to
a planned total depth of 19,000 feet |
