A major well blowout in Carlsbad, NM, which reportedly spewed natural gas at a rate of more than 2 MMcf/minute at its peak, was pretty much brought under control last week, said an official who assisted in the well-control effort.

The situation is now a “controlled blowout” where gas is being flowed over a diversion line to a burn pit for flaring, said David Thompson, senior well control specialist for Houston, TX-based Cudd Pressure Control.

He said crews planned to rig a snubbing unit late last week, allowing them to run pipe to the bottom of the well to circulate mud and effectively kill the well. He estimated it could take three to four days to get pipe down to the bottom of the well.

The well site is “non-spectacular at this point compared to Saturday night,” said Cudd spokesman Jeff Miller. Carlsbad residents in the affected neighborhoods were allowed to return to their homes on March 14, said Lieutenant Rick Riddle of the city fire department.

Up to 1,500 residents were evacuated on March 11 when drillers hit a high-pressure pocket of natural gas that caused the well located behind a fire department substation to blow out. The owner of the drilling rig is Chi Energy of Midland, TX.

Chi Energy, when contacted by NGI last week, said it was too busy with the blowout to talk to reporters.

Fire department officials reported that no one was injured as a result of the blowout, which occurred about 600 to 800 feet from one of the six fire substations in Carlsbad.

The blowout comes three-and-a-half years after a major explosion on the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline system in Carlsbad, which killed 12 people at a pipeline crossing near the Pecos River.

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