3 injured in oil well explosion

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GOLDEN VALLEY COUNTY — Three Cyclone Drilling, Inc. workers who were injured after a drilling well caught fire Sunday morning are expected to recover, said Cyclone Vice President Patrick Hladky.

“They’re all going to be OK,” Hladky said, but would not comment on their injuries or condition. “We’re not getting a lot of information from the hospital.”

Hladky would not release the names of the employees who were injured, but said all three are from North Dakota.

Two critically injured men were flown to a burn center in the Minneapolis area, said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. A third man suffered minor injuries.

“Natural gas flowing uncontrolled out of the well was ignited by rig engines or electrical systems,” Helms said in an email.

The well is tucked in the Badlands on state land about 30 miles northeast of Beach but smoke from the site could be seen for miles Monday.

“I believe it was an explosion and there has been a fire since,” Golden Valley Sheriff Scott Steele said. “The well itself, the fire, is still burning and they anticipate it will be several days before they can get everything cleaned up.”

Helms said flames from the well shot as high as 50 to 60 feet in the air.

Ground contamination is not a concern at this point, Steele said.

“Any liquid that’s coming out of the well is actually burning as it’s coming out,” he said. “What little bit did spill is contained within the site itself.”

The drill rig toppled during the blaze, and oil, gas and debris were still burning Monday, Helms said.

“They had just finished their drilling operation and it caught fire,” Helms said.

Helms estimated the fire will be extinguished in seven to 10 days.

Well fire specialists from Houston-based Wild Well Control Inc. traveled from Texas and were on the scene Monday.

“Right now, what they’ve got is what they described as a pilot light most of the time with occasional surges,” Steele said. “Because it’s been as predictable as it’s been, then they can back off before it flares again.”

Cyclone is an independent contractor for Continental Resources, said Brian Engel, vice president of public affairs for Continental Resources.

“This is the first time in Continental’s 40-year history that we’ve lost a derrick,” Engel said. “We’re out there trying to provide as much support to the injured employees and their families as we can.”

The property damage is confined primarily to the rig substructure, derrick and engines, according to a press release from Continental.

Several agencies, including the Sentinel Butte Fire Department, the Golden Valley County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Beach, Medora and Stark County Ambulances responded, Steele said.

About seven Cyclone employees were at the site when the incident occurred, Hladky said. Those who were not injured were back to work on different operations Monday, he added.

According to a press release from the Dakota Resource Council, the incident “joins a trend of oil field accidents increasing in frequency and severity, pointing to major shortcomings in thorough safety procedures and enforced preventative measures.”

The press release points out the state does not have the capacity or expertise to fight oil-related fires.

“Furthermore, the state does not require companies to equip oil operations with such safety measures … oil and gas companies (should) be held to the highest of standards, but the state agencies that monitor them should be as well,” the press release stated.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Tags: cyclone drilling, oil well, oil, news, explosion, energy