Coast Guard, BSEE Respond to Loss of Gulf Well

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and the U.S. Coast Guard responded Tuesday to a report of a loss of well control from the Ship Shoal Block 225 Platform B by Energy Resources Technology Gulf of Mexico, LLC (ERT), the owner of the oil and natural gas production platform.

Work was being conducted to temporarily plug Well #B2 on the platform, located about 74 miles southwest of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, when workers became aware of the well control event. Two other producing wells on Platform B were then shut-in, BSEE said in a press release.

BSEE inspectors and Coast Guard responders flew over the site Tuesday, and ERT’s site assessment indicated that a sheen was visible on the surface of the water. The sheen was at least 4 miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, according to the site assessment.

BSEE Houma District staff and personnel from the Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Morgan City are monitoring well control and pollution response efforts from ERT’s Command Center in Houston, Texas.

BSEE and the Coast Guard are working with other federal and local agencies in response to this incident, BSEE said. BSEE and the Coast Guard will investigate the cause of the loss of well control.