The well intervention operation undertaken by Total and Wild Well Control has succeeded in stopping a gas leak at Elgin’s G4 well, the French supermajor announced on 16 May 2012. Total’s president of E&P Yves-Louis Darricarrère called the outcome a ‘major turning point.’
The top kill operation kicked off at 9:20 a.m. local time as crews aboard the West Phoenix semisubmersible drilling rig pumped heavy drilling mud into the well through a temporary pipeline. Total said in a statement that the leak was plugged 12 hours later. The company said it will continue to monitor the well to confirm the success of the intervention operation.
‘Our absolute priority was to stop the gas leak safely and as quickly as possible,’ Darricarrère said in a statement. ‘We shall now fully complete the ongoing task and take into account the lessons learnt from this incident.’
The gas leak was first discovered on 25 March 2012, prompting the evacuation of all 238 personnel onboard Total’s Elgin PUQ (Production, Utilities, Quarters) and the subsequent shutdown of the Elgin, Franklin and West Franklin gas fields. The leak has reportedly cost Total $2.5 million a day.
At its peak the leaking G4 gas well flowed at a rate of 200,000 cm/d. According to the company that rate has decreased to a flow rate of 50,000 cm/d. Total has not said what caused the incident. Initial reports indicated a well control problem.
The Elgin complex is a high-pressure, high-temperature project located in the Central Craben area of the North Sea, approximately 240 km east of Aberdeen, Scotland.