TEHRAN- Fire in the well No. 147 of Rag-Sefid offshore oilfield in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan Province was put out at Tuesday’s night, Shana news agency reported.

A blowout occurs at Rag-Sefid oilfield on October 29. The accident happened when drilling operation was ongoing in depth of 2,403 meters in the well No. 147 of the field. It burnt the drilling rig and killed two persons working for the National Iranian Drilling Company (NIDC).

One week after the blowout, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh said that the blaze would be brought under control within one and half month, but it took 59 days.

Although, Iran has the experience of controlling such accidents in the oil and gas fields, as the country has brought 12 blowouts under control over the past 12 years, this one was a rare case given the high pressure of the oil exiting from the well.

At Tuesday night, when the blaze was extinguished, Mohsen Paknejad, the deputy managing director of National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for production affairs, said putting out fire at Rag-Sefid by Iranian experts has been one of the most difficult operations for controlling fire at an offshore field in the country.

MA