Sam Fletcher
OGJ Online
HOUSTON, July 19 -- Details were still sketchy late Thursday following a natural gas well accident Wednesday in East Texas that killed two members of a Halliburton Energy Services well servicing crew and put two others in area hospitals in critical condition.
A woman answering the phone at privately held Stallion Oil Co. in San Antonio said only that the Halliburton crew was involved in the re-entry of an existing well, the Clute No. 2, in Leon County near Buffalo, Tex. She said the company's owner, Roland Liberda, was at the accident site.
A Halliburton representative fielding media inquiries in Houston said she didn't know what sort of job the 7-man crew out of Kilgore, Tex., was doing when the accident occurred about 4:30 p.m.Wednesday. She referred such inquiries to Stallion Oil, the owner of the well.
In a statement issued Thursday, the Leon County Sheriff's office, Centerville, Tex., said the workers "had completed their servicing of the well and were shutting down the operation. The accident involved a high-pressure line, which caused the injuries."
A deputy told OGJ Online that there was no rig of any kind and no fire at the well site.
Other sources indicated that the injuries were inflicted by "flying pipe."
The sheriff's department said the well is "just off County Road 327 west of Buffalo, a town of about 2,000 people some 64 miles east of Waco.
The accident is under investigation by industry and Texas officials.
Contact Sam Fletcher at [email protected]
