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Guyana; 2018


Gotcha! You thought this was going to be about Exxon and Hess and kick-ass offshore stuff, uh?


Well, here is the aftermath of a infill, check that, inyard, gas blowout in Demerara, Guyana, July 2018. The operator/homeowner was drilling an unpermitted water well in his backyard at 130 feet TVD when shit hit the fan. The well disintegrated his rig and blew mud, water and gas a hundred feet in the air, all over everybody's houses. In the photograph, above, we can see the crater still bubbling water. The rig, whatever that was, has disappeared.


The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was the first responder on location but was unsure of how to handle the situation. As a result, the Civil Defense Commission (CDC) was called in and organized a team consisting of representatives from the EPA, Massy Gas Products, GWI, the Guyana Police Force, the GFS, and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission to monitor and assess the situation. With no protective casing string set in the blowout well gas began bubbling up in the neighbors yards and a full on underground blowout threatened local groundwater supplies.

The neighborhood homeowners association called the Guyana EPA and the operator was forced to start cleaning up the mess, like... immediately.


No. 1-R successfully intercepted the blowout zone at 128' TVD

Engineers were brought in from Exxon Mobil (no shit!) and a relief well was drilled. The well still produces gas today. Its operator spent a few days in the local houscow and returned home to try and smooth things over with the neighbors. The bad news is, two doors down there use to be a swimming pool that now acts like a jacuzzi that can't be turned off. The good news, if there is any, is the operator does not have to mow the grass in the backyard anymore. It's full of relief wells.



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