110 days later, Assam oil well fire brought under control
GUWAHATI: Finally, the fire at Baghjan Well No 5 in Assam’s Tinsukia district has been controlled, 110 days since a “blowout” or uncontrolled emission of natural gas occurred at the site.
According to oil exploration major Oil India Limited (OIL), foreign experts, after early setbacks last week, were able to divert part of the gas to two flaring pits and the rest to an EPS (early production system) on Sunday. This caused the fire to die out.
“It was a complex process. The fire was doused by successfully diverting natural gas that was spewing out of the blowout well head. Since there is no fuel, there is no fire now,” an OIL spokesperson said.
He said the next step would be to kill the well. “We are constantly monitoring well head pressures and related parameters. The well-killing operation will be undertaken once the whole system is stabilised,” he added.
The operation was carried out after experts from Singapore-based M/s Alert and OIL had completed inspection of the well head and studying other safety-related issues.
The OIL in a statement said: “The flow of gas was diverted to EPS at around 8.40 am after closing the BOP (blowout preventer) and flaring part of the gas which was diverted to two flare pits”.
The statement said all safety precautions were in place and the well head, BOP stack, choke manifold etc were being continuously sprayed with water for cooling purpose.
The blowout had occurred on May 27 which resulted in non-stop emission of natural gas. Even as the experts were trying to fix it, a massive fire broke out on June 9 that claimed the lives of two firefighters of the OIL. Last week, a 25-year-old electrical engineer died after being electrocuted at the site. Three of the six foreign experts had also sustained minor burn injuries during a failed attempt to cap the well.
The blowout and the fire had ravaged the surrounding areas displacing over 2,000 people who are now living in relief camps. The incident also caused the deaths of aquatic animals including dolphins, fish etc.