83 days later, Baghjan blowout finally capped
ASSAM Authorities say efforts underway to douse the fire; Monday’s operation was the third such attempt after two failures
nGUWAHATI: Engineers capped a blaze at a natural gas field in Assam’s Baghjan on Monday, 83 days after the blowout sparked an inferno that killed two, displaced hundreds of people and devastated the fragile local ecosystem.
Oil India Limited (OIL) said in a statement that efforts were underway to douse the fire at the well. “The well capping operation was initiated on Monday morning and the capping blow out preventer (BOP) stack was successfully placed over the well head. The 16 studs have also been tightened,” OIL said in the statement.
The BOP is a specialized valve or a similar device, used to seal control and monitor oil and natural gas wells to prevent blow outs, the uncontrolled release of gas or oil from a well. They are usually installed in stacks of other valves. “The preparations for killing operation are on. The BOP and the lines connected to it are being kept cool through continuous spraying of water,” the OIL statement added.
On May 27, the well in Tinsukia district suffered a blow out during work to locate a new reservoir. As engineers scrambled to plug the leak, the well caught fire on June 9, killing two firefighters. It has been blazing since.
Installation of the BOP stack was the penultimate task needed to complete the entire operation. Once the BOP is installed, the process of ‘killing the well’ and dousing the fire starts, said officials. That was to be done by injecting a ‘kill fluid’, a sludgelike specially prepared mud, into the well slowly to push the gas from the well back to the reservoir. Since the well at Baghjan is nearly 3.5 km deep, the killing operation which will douse the fire is expected to take around 24-36 hours.
Monday’s attempt was the third one after OIL personnel and foreign experts failed twice earlier.
On July 31, experts were attempting to place the BOP stack, weighing nearly three tonnes, on the well head when the Athey Wagon, a type of hydraulic lift used to fight oil-field fires consisting of a track –mounted boom with a hook in one end, toppled. Another attempt failed on August 10 after one of the two bull lines connected to the Athey Wagon which was lifting the BOP stack came out from the socket due to impact of excessive heat.
OIL initially said the well would be plugged in a month. The deadline was later extended to July 7. But delays due to floods, technical glitches and burn injuries to three foreign experts while attempting to douse the flames triggered several delays.
The well is located close to the Dibru Saikhowa National Park and the ecologically sensitive Maguri Motapung Wetland, and experts fear extensive environmental damage.
Several studies by different agencies are underway to measure the extent of damage. In June, National Green Tribunal (NGT) ordered formation of an expert committee to probe the blow out and subsequent fire and assess the damage caused to human life, wildlife and environment because of it.
The environmental and health impact of the fire will be long term, according to a report by Wildlife Institute of India submitted to the Union environment ministry in July.