Learn more about Hart Energy Conferences
Get our latest conference schedules, updates and insights straight to your inbox.
Ten days after the blowout of a Utica well, Mangum Hunter Resources Corp. (NYSE: MHR) said Dec. 23 it temporarily capped the well in Monroe County, Ohio.
Wild Well Control, a Houston company that responds to about 85% of domestic blowouts, successfully replaced the Stalder 3UH's wellhead assembly, Magnum Hunter said.
The well’s content is about 97% methane and MHR said it has no evidence of environmental damage to the immediate area as a result of the blowout. No personnel were injured in connection with the well control operations on the Stalder pad.
Some analysts speculated that the blowout could have repurcussions for the company's 2014 exit.
“Without the first well under control and online, the three remaining Utica wells and one Marcellus well cannot be produced, which makes MHR’s 32.5 Mboe/d 2014 exit rate guidance much less likely at this point,” according to a separate Dec. 15 report from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.
Houston-based MHR’s wholly owned subsidiary, Triad Hunter LLC, lost control of the well at about 2 p.m. EST on Dec. 13. Initial well control operations involved excavation around the wellhead to properly evaluate the condition of the wellhead flange and night cap. Fresh water was continually sprayed on the wellhead to reduce the chance of ignition of the natural gas.
Initially, attempts to push the night cap back over the flange with a track hoe and a crane were unsuccessful. Wild Well Control then began the process of replacing the wellhead assembly. As part of this process, the individual casing strings were cut in a number of different places. The new wellhead was then installed and the well was shut in.
The pad site will now be brought back to its original condition, and MHR anticipates that all wells on the Stalder Pad will be placed on production sometime in January 2015.
Magnum Hunter continues to believe that there has been no damage to the overall structure or integrity of the Stalder 3UH well and that the loss of control has not affected Magnum Hunter's three other Utica Shale wells (the Stalder #6UH, #7UH and #8UH) and one Marcellus Shale well (the Stalder #2MH).
Magnum Hunter and its subsidiaries maintain customary control of well insurance coverage through multiple shared-risk co-insurance companies.
Magnum Hunter said it believes that its control of well insurance will be adequate to cover all losses incurred by it in connection with the blowout of the Stalder 3UH well.
MHR holds 118,500 net acres prospective for the Utica with an estimated 464 gross remaining Utica well locations. In Monroe County, the company has drilled five wells and shut-in two of those.
Recommended Reading
CERAWeek: LNG to Play Critical Role in Shell's Future, CEO Says
2024-03-19 - Sawan said LNG will continue to play a critical role adding that LNG currently makes up around 13% of gas sales but was expected to grow to around 20% in the coming 15 to 20 years.
US Expected to Supply 30% of LNG Demand by 2030
2024-02-23 - Shell expects the U.S. to meet around 30% of total global LNG demand by 2030, although reliance on four key basins could create midstream constraints, the energy giant revealed in its “Shell LNG Outlook 2024.”
Tinker Associates CEO on Why US Won’t Lead on Oil, Gas
2024-02-13 - The U.S. will not lead crude oil and natural gas production as the shale curve flattens, Tinker Energy Associates CEO Scott Tinker told Hart Energy on the sidelines of NAPE in Houston.
Vopak Consortium Selected to Operate New LNG Terminal in South Africa
2024-01-10 - Vopak, in a partnership with Transnet Pipelines, was selected to develop and operate an LNG terminal at the Port of Richards Bay in South Africa for 25 years.
Natural Gas Producers’ Game Plan for LNG: Wait Out 2024
2024-01-08 - Natural gas production has risen over the past decade with the potential to keep growing, but 2024 will test the market’s patience as E&Ps await LNG export capacity to come online.