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Steam kick from geothermal exploration well at Blawan Ijen geothermal project

Steam kick from geothermal exploration well at Blawan Ijen geothermal project Well blow-out at Ijen geothermal project, East Java, Indonesia (source: YouTube/ screenshot)
Alexander Richter 3 May 2020

PT Medco Energi has shared details on a recent well steam kick out at its Blawan Ijen geothermal project in East Java, Indonesia. The incident occured on April 24, 2020 and has since been contained and the well is under control again.

PT Medco Cahaya Geothermal (MCG) is a joint venture company between of PT Medco Power Indonesia and PT Ormat Geothermal Power informs that there has been a steam kick yesterday (26/4) during the drilling of IJN 6-1 well at IJEN PLTP project located in Blawan Ijen, East Java.

This steam kick occurred during the time of drilling at IJN 6-1 entering a shallow depth high temperature steam reservoir at 630 m.

This incident could occur in a geothermal drilling and already mitigated with the installation of BOP (Blow Out Preventer). During the incident, the BOP was function properly, however due to the increase of the pressure and temperature of the well, the steam flows to the surface.

There is no harmful gas detected that can harm the local community, and the situation is properly controlled.

Until now, MCG is still working to manage the steam kick and stabilizing the well by pumping heavy drilling mud and it is expected the situation will be overcome soon.

The incident has been reported and coordinated with the related government body, local authorities and socialized with local communities.

Source: PT MedcoEnergi Geothermal press release by email

We thank George Barber of Terra Energy & Resource Technology for pointing us to the release.