A choke on this line was fully opened and allowed a large volume of gas from the well to blow into the circulating tank. The escaping gas ignited, probably by the power units or exhaust stacks near the circulating tank. The flames were extinguished in 15 minutes and the pump return line was closed. A wireline supervisor received third degree burns on the arms, neck, and chin. Workover operators and supervisors will be notified by the operators' personnel in charge of workover that wells will be bled down into separators and not into an open-storage tank.
All adjustable chokes are to be closed unless actually in use.
Any plugged chokes will be cleared and not bypassed to continue operations. Last updated on Wednesday March 31 1999.