Apache readies rig for relief well

Rowan Cecil Provine: Apache is moving the jack-up rig (above) to the site of a suspected leaking gas well off Louisiana in case the drilling of a relief well is needed

ROWAN COMPANIES

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Danica Newnham

 15 February 2013 05:56 GMT

US independent Apache said a relief rig is en route to the location of an offshore Louisiana well where natural gas has been said to be flowing underground for more than a week.

 According to US media reports, non-essential staff were evacuated from the shallow-water well that was being drilled by the jack-up Ensco 87 at Main Pass 295 in the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston-based Apache spokesman Bill Mintz confirmed in an emailed response to Upstream that the well began flowing natural gas on 4 February.

“The well was shut in, and the blowout preventers are functioning properly,” he said.

However, testing had detected an underground migration of gas from the bottom of the well (about 8261 feet) to a shallower sand formation at about 1100 feet…

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