Assam oilfield fire: Dummy run for capping operation at Baghjan oilfield

Army jawans of Mountain Division work to construct a new bridge near Baghjan gas well site, in Tinsukia district. (Courtesy: PTI/File Photo)

Oil India Limited (OIL) is planning dummy run of the final capping operation and subsequent killing operation at its Baghjan oilfield in Assam where a well is spewing gas for over two months. Considering the critical nature of the operations, a dummy run is being planned to be carried out with heavy machinery before the final capping, a release issued by the energy major said.

A well kill is the operation of placing a column of heavy fluid into a well bore in order to prevent the flow of reservoir fluids without the need for pressure control equipment at the surface.

Transferring and unloading of well killing fluid at the site has been completed and is ready for the operation. The release said, “Final preparation for capping operation is in progress. All high pressure well control equipment were placed at the designated positions as per plan which included Choke manifold, Ground X-mass tree, BOP control unit and all associated high pressure lines/hoses.

“Heat shields are placed to shield these equipment. The modified riser was also rigged up to the BOP stack, thus completing the capping stack.”

Besides, six high discharge water pumps are operational at the site for spraying water to the well head during the operation.

The well no 5 at Baghjan in Tinsukia district has been spewing gas uncontrollably since May 27 and a fire broke out on June 9, killing two firefighters of the company at the site. The fire is yet to be doused.

Three foreign experts, involved in the dousing operations, received minor burn injuries on July 22 while removing a spool from the well-head for the final preparation for capping operation, the release said.

The OIL release claimed that the company was facing protests and blockades near many of its wells and field locations, leading to heavy production loss since June.

Operations were disrupted in 12 oil wells and five gas wells and the cumulative production loss since May 27 due to bandhs and blockades was estimated at 17,646 MT crude oil and 41.83SCM of natural gas, the release said.

Various assessments and impact studies of the blowout as well as the blaze in villages and nearby forest areas by multiple agencies such as ERM India and TERI are going on while the CSIR-NEIST’s and IIT-Guwahati have completed data
collection which is being analysed and interpreted for final submission.

Surveys for assessment of damage for compensation by the district administration are in progress in both Tinsukia and Doomdooma circles and 2,355 families have been surveyed till July 28, the release added.