The team responding to the venting of gas from a well on Drill Site 2 of the Prudhoe Bay oil field has successfully installed a mechanical plug into the well, thus fully securing the well, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has announced. Responders had previously killed the well by pumping salt water into the well. However, with the well brought under control through the application of fluid under pressure to the well bore, it was necessary to mechanically plug the well to complete the securing of the well.
As the response to the incident moves into its cleanup phase, the unified command for the incident will stand down, ADEC says. Initially oil from a second leak in the well head had been sprayed from the wellhead by the venting gas. The oil leak was stopped by the earlier activation of the well's surface safety valve.
The oil spray only appears to have impacted an area of about 1.5 acres in the reserve pit of the Drill Site 2 gravel pad.
- ALAN BAILEY

This is an update to a story in the April 23 issue of Petroleum News which had already gone to press when the latest Drill Site 2 situation report was issued.