ONGOING OIL WELL BLOWOUT CONTROL

File: cia_70560_70560_01.txt
Page: 01
Total Pages: 1
Subject: ONGOING OIL WELL BLOWOUT CONTROL  
Not Finally Evaluated Intelligence 
 
TO FACILITATE ELECTRONIC ACCESS, THIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN 
REFORMATTED TO ELIMINATE INFORMATION THAT DOES NOT PERTAIN 
TO GULF WAR ILLNESS ISSUES OR THAT IS CLASSIFIED. A COPY OF 
THIS REDACTED DOCUMENT, IN ORIGINAL FORMAT, IS AVAILABLE ON 
REQUEST. 
 
AUG 91 
FM CIA 
 
CITE CIA 821061 
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 
------------------------------------------------------------ 
AUGUST 1991 
 
COUNTRY: KUWAIT 
 
SUBJ: 1. STATUS OF ONGOING OIL WELL BLOWOUT CONTROL 
OPERATION 
 
TEXT: 1. THE ONGOING BATTLE AGAINST THE APPROXIMATELY 600 
WELL FIRES AND BLOWOUTS IN KUWAIT CONTINUES BY WESTERN 
TEAMS.  THE COMBINED WESTERN EFFORT HAD CAPPED/CONTROLLED 
261 WELLS AS OF 30 JULY.  THE ARRIVAL OF INCREASED TEAM 
STRENGTH By ALL OF THE PARTICIPATING WESTERN FIRMS BY 15 
AUGUST WILL ALLOW INCREASED EFFORT AGAINST THE NORTHERN AND 
MINAQISH FIELD FIRES.  ONE WESTERN TEAM HAS BEEN DISPATCHED 
TO THE MINAQISH FIELD TO START OPERATIONS AGAINST THE RASH 
OF MARRAT HIGH PRESSURE WELL BLOWOUTS.  INITIAL TEAM 
REPORTING INDICATES THAT CONTROLLING THE WELLS MAY NOT BE AS 
SIZABLE A PROBLEM AS ORIGINALLY BELIEVED.  FOLLOWING A 
REVIEW OF A NUMBER OF THESE HIGH PRESSURE WELLS, IT APPEARS 
THAT WITH MINIMAL EFFORT, A NUMBER OF THE FIRES CAN BE 
DIRECTED IN A STRAIGHT Up PLUME.  THE USE OF A LARGER 
REDESIGNED "STINGER* CAN BE EMPLOYED To CONTROL THESE AND 
SAVE CONSIDERABLE CONTROL TIME.  THE TEAM HAS HAD TO 
REIGNITE-SEVERAL OF THESE WELLS IN-AN EFFORT To ELIMINATE ON 
THE GROUND POLLUTION IMPEDIMENTS TO THE CONTROL EFFORT.  A 
NUMBER (NFI) HAVE BEEN FOUND TO BE PRODUCING WHITE SMOKE, 
INDICATIVE OF WATER CONING, WHICH SHOULD ASSIST IN THE 
OVERALL CONTROL EFFORT.