Burlington Resources Inc. reported the partial resumption of natural gas production from the Madden Field in Wyoming. Production has resumed from two of the six Madden Deep wells, and the Train II unit at the Lost Cabin Processing Plant has restarted, the company said. The wells are flowing at 65 MMcfe/d, yielding plant natural gas output of 40 MMcfe/d.

On June 22, Burlington reported that it shut in about 310 MMcf/d of gas production behind the Lost Cabin Plant in Fremont County, WY, after discovering “localized pipe deformations” in the field’s high pressure gathering system. No pipeline ruptures or leaks prompted the action, the company said.

However, company officials ordered the precautionary shut-in to allow field personnel to determine the cause of pipeline movement and pipe deformations in several of the gathering lines serving the field.

Engineering studies into the cause are continuing, a spokesman said. Burlington expects to provide an update during its second-quarter conference call on July 24.

Production flowing into the plant inlet had been 310 MMcf/d, with 210 MMcf/d of treated sales gas capacity — the plant extracts hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and other impurities. Burlington holds a 42% interest in the production. Pogo Petroleum owns about 13% and the rest is owned by privately-owned production companies.

In October 2002, Burlington completed a Train III expansion project at the Lost Cabin Gas Plant, which enabled the plant to reach inlet flows of 310 MMcf/d. The project was seen as one of the final steps in development of the field, which the company believes contains some of the nation’s deepest and most productive onshore natural gas wells.

The Train III processing facilities represented a $280 million capital investment that added inlet capacity of 180 MMcfe/d. The Lost Cabin plant processes gas from the Deep Madison formation, which lies at depths of up to 25,000 feet. Seven producing wells have been drilled into the formation and six currently are connected to the plant. The company said the wells are among the nation’s most productive onshore, with each capable of producing as much as 40 to 50 MMcfe/d. The field makes up about 3% of Burlington’s total gas production.

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