Socar Fighting to Suppress Fire Burning from Caspian Sea Well

Azerbaijan’s national oil company Socar has informed that a fire broke out on one of its Caspian Sea wells on Saturday night.

The incident took place during drilling operations at the No 90 exploration well at Bulla Deniz field. At approximately 23:00 Saturday, natural gas started flowing uncontrollably from the well and, after half an hour, it caught fire.

The company has evacuated all personnel from the platform. Firefighting vessels have surrounded the platform but, according to abc.az, the attempts to put the fire out have, so far, been unsuccessful.

In a statement issued yesterday, Socar said that preparations were underway to kill the out-of-control well.

The Bulla Deniz gas field, in production since 1975, is located near the Bulla Island in the Bay of Baku, Caspian Sea. The field was the largest gas discovery in Azerbaijan before discovery of the Shah Deniz gas field.