The well is one of three on a platform in water 144 feet deep. Production from the other two wells has been shut down.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Crews worked Wednesday to seal an old oil and gas well off the Louisiana coast that began leaking during work to plug it permanently.
Eileen Angelico, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said the bureau has reviewed and approved plans to seal the well. She said the procedures will involve pumping drilling mud into the well to stop the small flow.
The well and production platform, in the Gulf of Mexico about 75 miles southwest of the oil depot at Port Fourchon, are owned by a subsidiary of Houston-based Talos Energy LLC. The company said the well had not been producing for years.
Talos President Timothy S. Duncan said saltwater and small amounts of natural gas and the light oil-and-water mixture called condensate escaped the well. A light sheen is expected to evaporate.
Duncan said Wild Well Control Inc. has been brought in to seal the leak.
The well did not blow out, and there was no explosion or fire on the platform, Coast Guard Lt. Lily Zepeda said.
The well is one of three on a platform in water 144 feet deep. Production from the other two wells has been shut down.
Talos acquired the platform and wells in its February 2013 acquisition of Energy Resources Technology GOM, which also is based in Houston.
BSEE and the Coast Guard remain on scene at a nearby platform to oversee the company's progress, Angelico said.