Cost of Prud’homme wellhead fire hits $11M

A spectacular wellhead fire that shot flames 75 metres into the air near Prud’homme cost SaskEn-ergy subsidiary TransGas $11 million in repairs and firefighting.

The tab includes a $2-million expense to buy 650 Tera-Joules of natural gas to replace the gas that combusted into the atmosphere during the weeklong fire, said sas-kenergy spokesman Dave Burdeniuk.

Although the mop-up was initially estimated to cost between $5 million and $10 million, the heat of the fire reached as high as 1,000 C, which was hot enough to damage equipment near the inferno. Although the blaze was limited to one underground natural gas storage cavern, the intense heat melted nearby wiring and cables, baked lubricants inside valves, and warped nearby rubber, he said.

Burdeniuk has said insurance is expected to cover all the costs of the fire, save for a $500,000 deductible. That expense should not affect natural gas prices in the province, he said.

The October fire temporarily displaced four families from their homes. No one was injured in the blaze.

It started in the wellhead on one of seven caverns TransGas uses south of Prud’homme for storing natural gas. The Crown called in Calgary-based company Safety Boss, and workers puzzled for days over the best way to extinguish the blaze safely.

The damaged wellhead is now at a lab in Calgary awaiting analysis. Burdeniuk said TransGas doesn’t yet know what caused the fire, which was the first blaze of its kind in the province since Saskatchewan began using the caverns in the 1960s.

Part of the investigation will have to wait until the ground thaws in spring, he said. To test the cavern’s casing, the company must fill it up with water. If the casing is good, TransGas can use the cavern for gas storage again. If it’s damaged, they may repair it, or retire the cavern, he said.

“We would like to have it enter service.”

TransGas has 26 underground caverns across the province to stockpile gas for the high demand of winter.

The fire and associated repairs haven’t threatened the natural gas supply for central Saskatchewan, Burdeniuk said.

Prud’homme is about 90 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon.

LIAM RICHARDS/The Canadian Press No one was injured, but four families were displaced from their homes temporarily after a wellhead of a natural gas storage cavern near Prud’homme caught fire in October.