OIL India fails in 3rd attempt to control Baghjan well; here's what happened

Guwahati: Oil India Limited's (OIL) 3rd attempt to kill the leaking well at Baghjan in Tinsukia, Assam, was suspended yesterday after the rapture of a valve in casing head housing of the well. The gas and fire continue at the site.

However, the fire and gas that has been spewing uncontrollably from the site stopped for a few moments when the experts began the killing operation. Locals of the area who saw this phenomenon from a distance perceived it as an end to the long-time menace of the spewing well, but their joy was short-lived when the well started spewing gas and fire once again.

"The gas was stopped by closing of the Blowout Preventer when killing fluid was injected and the same was released once again after BoP was open when killing operations were suspended. When again gas started to be released and well was on fire some people may have assumed that there was another blowout," Tridiv Hazariika, OIL spokesperson, informed The Sentinel Digital.

"A valve in a casing pipe ruptured due to immense pressure during the killing operation. We had already bulldozed 88 barrels of killing fluids to control the blowout when the valve raptured. After the unfortunate rupture, the fluid did not go where it was supposed to and we had to abandon the ops. Experts are contemplating which course of action to take next," Hazarika added.

Hazarika further expressed that the controlling of the Well 5 at Baghjan has been delayed due to a number of reasons. "We were hoping that this valve would not rapture, but there was always the possibility that it would, and we were aware of the risks. When you have a blowout, an incredibly rare phenomenon, the controlling of it depends on several factors as each case is distinct and different."

The OIL spokesperson further added that the fire at the blowout site continues to rage on. "The focus is on controlling the well and the fire is just a by-product. We are now going to remove the BoP. By evening, we should have some more updates regarding our next course of action."

It is to be noted that on Monday, Oil India had managed to cap the Baghjan gas well in Tinsukia, over 80 days after the well had a major blowout on May 27. It was capped by placing a Blowout Preventer stack on the wellhead.

In a press release on Tuesday, the company said that it had made all arrangements for carrying out the well-killing operation, like connecting kill lines and choke manifold lines. The company later said that the well-killing operation had failed.

A massive fire had been raging at the oil well since June 9, as the gas that had been leaking ignited, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. Two OIL firefighters had died in the blaze.

Oil India had warned at the time that the fire could take weeks to extinguish. On July 22, another explosion at the well left three foreign experts injured.

In June, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed Oil India Limited to pay an interim fine of Rs 25 crore for the damage caused to public health and wildlife due to the fire.

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