(Updates with statements from state regulator)
Sept 23 (Reuters) – Heavy floods in northeastern Colorado continued to roil
oil and gas operations, with 1,300 wells still shut and nearly 650 barrels of
oil spilled a week after record rains fell on the region, regulators said.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission said it was tracking eight
“notable” releases, including a 36-barrel spill from a Noble Energy well
that was discovered over the weekend.
The commission is keeping an eye on 10 other locations where oil sheen is
visible and another 33 sites where tanks or other oil and gas equipment have
been damaged.
The total volume of spills is “equal to the oil contained in two typically
sized storage tanks,” the commission said.
Last week, Anadarko Petroleum Corp reported a total of seven spills,
which released about 500 barrels of oil.
One of Anadarko’s oil storage tanks was knocked over by the flooding and
released 56 barrels of oil into the swollen South Platte River, according to a
report the company filed with the National Response Center. Two other spills
released 125 barrels and 323 barrels earlier this week.
The most severely impacted energy region is known as the Denver-Julesburg
basin in the Niobrara Shale, which is centered in eastern Colorado and stretches
into southeast Wyoming, western Nebraska and western Kansas.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Association said on Friday that more than 1,500 oil
and gas wells remained shut after the flooding, down from 1,900 on Sept. 17.
The Young Storage Co natural gas storage facility lifted its force majeure
on Friday after returning a natural gas pipeline to service.
The following is a list of oil and gas company operations disrupted by the
flooding:
Colorado Oil Floods caused 10 oil and gas spills by Sept. 20. Two
and Gas considered “notable.” Other spills involved sheens that came
Conservation from oil and gas equipment.
Commission
Colorado Oil & Industry association said 1,500 wells were shut in affected
Gas Association areas as of Sept. 20. During clean-up efforts 40 barrels
(1,680 gallons) of condensate were removed from tanks that
had shifted location, along with water and condensate mix
from around the location. No fracking fluids stored on site
in affected area.
Anadarko 600 of 5,800 operated wells shut in as of Sept. 19. Three
Petroleum tank batteries damaged, light oil releases into South Platte
River and St. Vrain River. Continuing to assess integrity of
a small portion of gathering lines.
Encana Corp 133 wells remain shut in as of Sept. 19; 397 out of 1,241
wells in the region were shut at peak. Inspections completed
at tank batteries. Two non-reportable oil spills, within
containment. No reportable oil spills found.
Kinder Young Storage Co natural gas storage facility lifted force
Morgan /X majeure after returning natural gas lateral pipeline to
cel Energy service on Friday. Working gas capacity of 6 billion cubic
/ feet.
Colorado
Springs
Utilities
El Paso Colorado Interstate Gas declared force majeure due to
Pipeline exposed natural gas lateral pipeline to Tritown delivery
Partners point.
SemGroup Flows from the White Cliffs pipeline, which transports oil
from Colorado and Kansas to the Cushing, Oklahoma, hub, were
continuing, according to energy intelligence group Genscape.
Genscape reported that White Cliffs has been loading only
from Healy, Kansas, this month due to an expansion project
underway at the Colorado terminal.
Synergy A small number of existing vertical wells offline for
Resources indeterminate amount of time. Final completion of fifth well
temporarily delayed. Vast majority of production unaffected.
PDC Energy Inc 130 production wells in the Wattenberg Field were out of
service as of Thursday. PDC operates 2,380 wells in the
field.
Noble Energy 5 to 10 percent of 8,000 wells are shut. Company detected
Inc three leaking gas wells, two of which have been shut as of
Wednesday. A third is expected to be shut when crews can
safely access area.
Bill Barrett Four vertical wells out of 298 shut-in affecting production
Corp by less than 100 boepd. Some drilling activity may be
delayed due to road closures, but no significant impact to
operations.
(Reporting by Eileen Houlihan, Edward McAllister, Selam Grebrekidan and Matthew
Robinson; Editing by John Wallace)
