Cenovus reports Rush Lake blowout now under control

Brian Zinchuk

Brian Zinchuk is editor and owner of Pipeline Online

This is a screenshot of the explosive release for a well east of the Rush Lake 2 thermal facility. Facebook

Cenovus Energy reported on July 31 that it had finally brought its Rush Lake blowout under control. The initial blowout began on May 9.

In an emailed statement, Cenovus said, “Cenovus Energy has safely controlled the well that caused the steam release to surface at its Rush Lake thermal oil facility.

“With the well now under control, we continue to perform completion activities to fully isolate the well and are preparing for cleanup and remediation of the site. As of July 17, the vapour release that had produced odours in the region has been eliminated.

The red starburst in the centre indicates the approximate location of the blowout, as correlated from the photo above. This is a map of wellbores in the area, according to the Saskatchewan GeoAtlas

“The steam release is from a casing failure in an injection well, and we are undertaking a thorough investigation that will determine the root cause of that failure. We will continue to work with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Energy and Resources throughout the investigation and share the results with them. Cenovus is committed to continuous improvement, and what we learn from this incident investigation will assist us in further enhancing overall safety and performance at our thermal operations.

“The complexity of the response led to the duration of the incident and the odours, which we know adversely impacted our neighbours. We sincerely apologize for this and we’ll continue to communicate with the people and communities to provide updates as new information becomes available.”

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