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Gold/Mining/Energy : KOB.TO - East Lost Hills & GSJB joint venture -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wizzer who wrote (1565)	2/11/1999 3:24:00 PM
From: Salt'n'Peppa	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15703

Just in case you missed todays PR from Bob Christie: Blowout nearly stopped February 11, 1999 By BOB CHRISTIE Californian staff writer e-mail: bchristie@bakersfield.com LOST HILLS — A blown-out well near this western Kern County town has been "effectively killed" by well control specialists after gushing natural gas for more than 11 weeks. Although a small amount of water and some hydrocarbons continue to flow from the well, a technique used Tuesday to stop the water and gas flow was apparently successful. Efforts to cut off the rest of the flow are expected to succeed within a few days, according to sources familiar with the operation. Officials with the well's Canadian operator, Elk Point Resources Inc., of Calgary, did not return repeated calls seeking comment. Analysts familiar with the company said its management was apparently waiting for complete shutdown of the well before commenting. Principals with two other oil companies with ownership interests declined to comment. Stocks in seven of the eight publically traded Canadian oil companies with interests in the well surged from 10 percent to 20 percent Wednesday when the news hit that nation's financial markets. One Calgary-based oil industry analyst said there is now a "95 percent chance" that the relief well currently being drilled near the site of the blown-out well will now be used as a development well. "At this point my understanding is there is a small amount of hydrocarbons and water coming up out of the hole, but it is now at a substantially lower pressure and lower flow rate," said Wilf Gobert, managing director of research for investment bankers Peters & Co. Limited in Calgary. "That is why they are now able to pump cement into the hole and plug it." Making use of the relief well to confirm the extent of the newly discovered reservoir will speed up the process of developing a commercial field in the area, which is more than two miles from the nearest previously known field. The well, known as Bellevue No. 1, blew out and caught fire in spectacular fashion on the night of Nov. 23 and burned uncontrollably for more than two weeks. No one was injured, but crews on the Nabors Drilling USA rig barely escaped when the well blew. Well fire specialists battled the furious natural gas blaze for two weeks before water started coming from the reservoir and put out the flames. However, massive quantities of water and gas continued to be produced, with the gas being flared off after crews placed a water/oil/gas separation system at the site. Participants in the well include eight Canadian companies and several U.S.-based independents. The well was killed using a technique that pumped metal balls deep into the well bore through the drill pipe. Those balls were forced upward by the escaping water and gas, where they caught between the well casing and the drill pipe collars. Successive injections of smaller ball bearings closed off the well bore further.