Runaway

Well control experts succeeded in plugging Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s runaway oil well that had been spewing natural gas and drilling mud since last Tuesday near the town of Douglas, WY, in part of the Niobrara Shale formation in Converse County. Crews managed to reduce the pressure and regain control by plugging the well with mud.

High winds kept crews for a unit of Chesapeake Energy Corp. from bringing under control a runaway natural gas well that has been spewing gas and drilling mud since Tuesday near the town of Douglas, WY, in part of the Niobrara Shale formation in Converse County.

Louisiana oil and natural gas interests are rallying support for legislation intended to put the brakes on runaway liability awards for environmental damage in the state. SB 443 is currently in the state Senate Judiciary Committee A, and Louisiana Oil & Gas Association (LOGA) Chairman Don Briggs is hoping the industry will step up to support it.

BP plc last week successfully sealed its runaway Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) with cement. A permanent fix using one of two relief wells is expected to begin in the middle of the month.

BP said early Wednesday that its runaway Macondo well appears to have reached a static condition, with pressure now being controlled by the hydrostatic pressure of drilling mud that was pumped into the well Tuesday.

BP plc began injectivity testing at about 1 p.m. CDT Tuesday and then began static kill operations to rein in its runaway Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico, the source of the world’s largest accidental oil spill.

California’s energy future is balanced precariously between runaway costs and the threat of severe shortages, particularly in a “hotter-than-average” summer, according to the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) draft 2005 “Integrated Energy Policy Report,” released last Friday. Touching on everything from global climate change to the cost of gasoline and growing reliance on natural gas, the 157-page report delivers a sobering message for Californians.

In response to concerns and claims that “runaway” oil service costs might finally be catching up to exploration and production (E&P) companies, Raymond James analysts say they believe it to be unfounded.

A spate of selling followed Thursday’s runaway 36-cent screen rise, as traders took profits ahead of the weekend and July natural gas futures sank 13.6 cents to close at $5.805 Friday. Meanwhile the 12-month strip slipped 8.4 cents to close at $5.821. At 60,140, estimated volume was weak.