In Amenas Gas Well Eruption Contained: Algerian Sonatrach

A drilling operation in Algeria has been hit by a blowout, with efforts underway to contain the incident. Algeria's Sonatrach ​said on Monday that an eruption ‌without ‌ignition ​occurred ‌during well maintenance ⁠at the TG 16 ⁠gas ‌well ‌in ​the Tiguentourine ‌field, part ‌of the In ‌Amenas Production Division, with ⁠no ⁠casualties reported.

State oil company Sonatrach said that on 2 August at around 15:00 local time, there was a loss of control while during workover operations on the TG-16 well on the Tiguentourine gas field. Initially, the released gas did not ignite, but Sonatrach said the hydrocarbons coming out of the well caught fire around 18:20. No casualties were reported.

As soon as the incident occurred, the state oil company said a safety perimeter was established around the well site, which is part of the huge In Amenas gas hub. “All material and human resources have been activated to contain the incident, and well control experts have been called in on site,” said Sonatrach.