French supermajor Total informed the Department of Energy and Climate Change that their dynamic kill operation to try to stop the gas release from the Elgin well began yesterday.
DECC have been working closely with TOTAL and gave environmental consent to the company earlier in May to pump heavy mud into the well via a temporary pipeline connected to the G4 wellhead from the main support vessel, the West Phoenix semi-submersible drilling rig.
Depending on the precise conditions inside the well, the operation itself and the subsequent observation period will last a few days before it is possible to confirm whether the operation has been fully effective. The dynamic kill is the quickest option to control the release. Work on another option to drill a relief well is already underway.
A Department of Energy and Climate Change spokesman said: “We continue to monitor the situation closely and hope this operation successfully stops the gas release.”
Total on March 25 reported that a gas leak following a well operation occurred at the wellhead platform on the Elgin gas field in the UK North Sea approximately 240 km east of Aberdeen. The gas has been spewing into atmosphere ever since.
Elgin and Franklin are two high pressure/high temperature gas and condensate fields, which started production in 2001. They are located in the British North Sea, approximately 240 kilometers east of Aberdeen, in Scotland. The Elgin field was discovered in 1991 and the Franklin field in 1986.
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff, May 16, 2012