After five days of strenuous efforts, the blowout of natural gas in Mori-5 well of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) at Irusumanda village in Andhra Pradesh’s Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema district was finally extinguished on Saturday, officials said.
In a statement, the ONGC said it has successfully established well control at Mori-5 well, completing the capping operation in a record time of five days, “marking a significant achievement in blowout response and operational excellence.”
The statement said the well was successfully capped and the field-level operations related to the Mori-5 incident have been concluded. No further operational updates are expected.
“ONGC is committed to safety, environmental protection and operational discipline across its oil and gas operations,” the statement said.
District joint collector T Nisanthi told reporters that the blowout had been fully controlled. “The fire is extinguished and there are no flames now. Operations pertaining to capping of the gas well and mudding are underway,” she said.
The blowout happened at around 12.30 pm on January 5, resulting in massive flames that reached up to a height of 20 metres and a width of 25 metres. The district authorities quickly evacuated around 600 people from the nearby villages, as large extent of coconut plantation was burnt to ashes.
An official familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that according to preliminary estimates about three lakh cubic metres of gas gushing out of the Mori-5 well was burnt during the five-day period.
The ONGC disaster management team has completely removed the debris and has prepared a blowout preventer to be installed at the well. A continuous water blanket was maintained to facilitate safe operations in the vicinity of the wellhead, the official said.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu conducted an aerial survey on Friday to assess the impact of the gas well blowout. Following the survey, Naidu held a review meeting with ONGC and district officials, and local leaders, an official statement from the CMO said.
In addition to enquiring about the steps being taken to fully douse the blaze, he also directed officials to expedite compensation for local farmers whose coconut trees were destroyed by the blowout.
Curated by Shiv Shakti Mishra
