OIL WELL BLOWOUT CONTROL OPERATION

File: cia_70564_70564_01.txt
Page: 01
Total Pages: 1
Subject: OIL WELL BLOWOUT CONTROL OPERATION  
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. 
 
MAY 91 
MAY 91 
FM CIA 
CITE CIA 656259 
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY 
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NOT FINALLY EVALUATED INTELLIGENCE 
 
MAY 1991 
 
 
SUBJ: STATUS OF ONGOING OIL WELL BLOWOUT CONTROL OPERATION 
THE  ONGOING BATTLE AGAINST THE APPROXIMATELY 540 WELL FIRES 
AND BLOWOUTS IN KUWAIT CONTINUES BY WESTERN TEAMS.  THE 
COMBINED WESTERN EFFORT HAD CAPPED/CONTROLLED A TOTAL OF 71 
WELLS AS OF 26 APRIL, AND AT LEAST FOUR MORE ARE EXPECTED TO 
BE CONTROLLED BY THE -WEEK'S END.  ACTIVITY CONTINUES TO 
FILL THE WATER STORAGE LAGOONS FOR THE PLANNED ATTACKS 
AGAINST THE HIGH PRESSURE WELLS IN THE BURGAN FIELD.  A TEAM 
IS AT THE SITE OF ONE OF THE WORST HIGH PRESSURE BLOW 
OUTS IN THE FIELD, AND FIELD REPORTS INDICATE THAT EQUIPMENT 
IS PRESENT AND CLEARING OUT THE CELLAR (IN THE PIT BELOW THE 
WELLHEAD).THE FIRE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS WELL BEGINS 
APPROXIMATELY 80 FEET ABOVE THE WELLHEAD DUE TO THE INTENSE 
PRESSURE STREAM AT THE WELL SITE. THE WORKING TEAMS ARE 
HAVING SUCCESS WITH THE APPLICATION OF "STINGERS" IN MANY 
WELLS; DEVICES WHICH WHEN PLACED IN THE DAMAGED WELLHEADS, 
KILLS THE WELL IN ADDITION TO RESTRICTING ITS FLOW.  THE 
OPERATION TO BRING SEA WATER TO THE WELL SITES VIA REVERSING 
THE FLOW OF THE FLOW LINES HAS GAINED SOME SUCCESS, AND SOME 
WATER HAS BECOME AVAILABLE VIA THIS METHOD OF DELIVERY.  THE 
OPERATING TEAMS INDICATE THAT THE AIR AT THEIR CAMP SITE 
NEAR AHMADI APPEARS TO BE LESS POLLUTED BY SMOKE DUE TO THE 
KILLING OF MANY OF THE WELLS IN THE IMMEDIATE AREA.