The team of foreign experts and personnel from Oil India Limited (OIL) have begun all the pre-snubbing operation activities as planned and it is expected that the snubbing operation will begin within a day or two.
“Assembling of Blowout Preventer (BOP) stack and pressure testing of the same are in progress. Arrangement for placing the snubbing unit in the well plinth is underway. The flow of gas from the well to nearby Early Production Setup (EPS) at Baghjan is maintained with all operating parameters within desired limits under round the clock supervision and monitoring,” the OIL said in a statement.
It is worth mentioning that after successful capping of the well on August 17, 2020, followed by subsequent challenges encountered in surface killing operations, it was decided to kill the Baghjan blowout well in Tinsukia with the deployment of a snubbing unit.
However, considering the long lead time for delivery of snubbing unit from Canada to Baghjan coupled with pandemic crisis and other logistical issues, it was decided by Eastern Asset team of OIL under the guidance of Asset Manager–Eastern Asset, JPP Das to explore the possibility of producing the well at nearby Early Production set up (EPS) of OIL in Baghjan.
The main objective of the well diversion to EPS was well-head pressure management so as to ensure the integrity of the well-head for future snubbing operations; reduce environmental impact associated with uncontrolled flow of hydrocarbon to the atmosphere.
The other objective is to produce hydrocarbon from the well which will lead to revenue generation and arrest loss due to uncontrolled discharge of natural gas along with condensate from the well.
Application of innovative ideas coupled with proper planning, execution and monitoring has led to diversion of a blowout well through BOP probably for the first time in the oil and gas industry, globally.
It is noteworthy that such a job was carried out by in-house crew of OIL using available equipment and spares.
As a result, after successful diversion of the well on September 13, 2020, a cumulative production of 6,960 kilo litres (KL) of high-quality condensate along with 49.01 Million Metric Standard Cubic Meter (MMSCM) of natural gas has been achieved till November 5, 2020, leading to considerable revenue generation and monetisation.
The snubbing unit reached Baghjan on Wednesday evening from Canada.