Pertamina Evacuates Offshore Gas Platform After 'Well Kick'

State-owned energy holding company Pertamina recently halted operations and removed workers from a gas drilling platform in the Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) block because of a dangerous "well kick".

ONWJ block operator Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) spokesman Ifki Sukarya said the kick, an unplanned and often violent release of gas caused by low pressure in a wellbore, started on July 12 and it became bigger two days after.

“We had activated the incident management team [IMT] to mitigate the impact. The main priority is to ensure the safety of workers and the local people, as well as to minimize the impact to the environment,” he said in a press statement on Wednesday.

The well kick occurred in the re-activated YYA-1, located beneath the PHE ONWJ’s offshore platform two kilometers north of Karawang, West Java.

Separately, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry's acting oil and gas director-general Djoko Siswanto said the ministry had sent a team to help deal with the accident.

“Right now we are trying to stop it to avoid a further gas kick, which could cause a blowout,” he said, adding it had caused a minor oil spill in the area, but measures were being taken to control the spread. He said an oil boom had been placed around it.

The cause of the kick had not yet been determined as officials were still focused on ending it, Djoko said.

“After we have managed to solve the problem, then we will start to investigate the cause of the incident,” he said adding that no casualties had been reported. 

Source:Jakarta Post