HOUSTON, July 10 (UPI) -- Talos Energy said it expected to have a well leaking a small amount of natural gas off the coast of Louisiana shut within the next 24 hours.
The U.S. Interior Department's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said natural gas was flowing from a platform about 74 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The BSEE said sheen was visible on the surface of the water. By Tuesday, the BSEE estimated the sheen measured about 4 miles wide by three quarters of a mile long.
Energy Resources Technology LLC, a subsidiary of Talos, reported the incident to the BSEE and the U.S. Coast Guard. Talos said the well, Ship Shoal 225 B-2, is an "older well" developed in the 1970s.
Talos, which has headquarters in Houston, said it believes the age of the well may have contributed to the incident. It said it believed the sheen would evaporate quickly because the well was producing mostly water. Talos said it believes about six barrels worth of hydrocarbons were released when it lost control of the well.
"We expect that the well will be shut in within the next 24 hours," the company said in a Tuesday statement.
Talos said it was working to close the Ship Shoal well permanently when the accident occurred.
"All five personnel on the platform were evacuated safely," the company said.
