Pertamina stops gas blowout in Prabumulih
Thursday, May 16 2013 - 12:32 PM WIB
PT Pertamina EP (PEP) said it had managed to put a stop to the gas blowout at Talang Jimar (TLJ)-240 well in Prabumulih, South Sumatra.
The firm managed to stop the gas blowout on May 5, 2013 after carrying out mud injection in seven steps, Wit Mulya, PEP?s Senior Manager of Exploitation Asset 2, said on Thursday during the annual 37th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Conference and Exhibition in Jakarta.
The gas blowout lasted for more than a month since March 31. No fatalities were reported as the local people were immediately evacuated following the incident.
?The well condition has been declared safe. People who have been evacuated following the blowout incident can now return to their homes and resume their normal activities since May 5,? he said.
He said a subsurface study indicates the gas blowout was caused by an abnormal pressure at the depth of 300 meters.
?We suspect the pressure was caused by a gas accumulation sourced from gas layer at the depth of 1,700 at the TLJ-157 well which was drilled by the Dutch people in 1952,? Wit Mulya, PEP?s Exploitation Senior Manager, said on the second day of the annual 37th Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) Conference and Exhibition in Jakarta.
Gas analysis carried out based on isotope test indicates the gas is of thermogenic type, which means it is sourced from a deeper section, Wit said. Pertamina has thus concluded that the gas blowout was by an upward pressure from the lower layer of the TLJ-157 well to the shallow zone which has a good permeability due to poor cement condition.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon