ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Texas crew was scheduled to arrive at Alaska's North Slope on Thursday to control an exploratory well that apparently blew out.
No workers were injured or oil spilled at the well near the mouth of the Colville River when drilling hit a natural gas patch about 2,600 feet deep Wednesday, forcing mud back up the rig, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation spokesman Ty Keltner said in a release.
About 42,000 gallons of drilling mud were released on the gravel pad and snow-covered tundra, he said.
Drilling mud and methane gas shot from the well through a diverter pipe, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Additional mud was pumped into the borehole in an effort to "kill" the well, but that mud was also blown out, Keltner said.
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