23 February 2004 08:01
Russians set gas well blow-out on fire to fight pollution
Krasnodar, 23 February: Gas and gas condensate gushing from a gas production well in the coastal zone of the Azov Sea
since 17 February has been set on fire over the threat of heavy air pollution. The height of the flare exceeds 150
metres, Sergey Shimanov, managing director of Kubanburgaz, a Gazprom affiliated company, said today.
Tomorrow, experts will try to replace a faulty blow-out preventer that caused the accident. Previous attempts to
suppress the blow-out with heavy drilling mud failed, Shimanov said. The pressure in the 3,090-m-deep gas well is so
high that "the gushing gas and gas condensate (reservoir fluid) was pushing the mud back", he added.
[Passage omitted to end]
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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