Chevron reports fire at Pennsylvania gas well

Chevron has reported a fire at its Appalachia Lanco 7H natural gas well pad at Dunkard Township in Greene County, Pennsylvania.

One person has been hospitalised and another is currently unaccounted for. The company has initiated emergency response procedures.

The Lanco well pad has three natural gas wells that were in the final stages of preparation prior to being placed into production.

At the time of the incident, 19 workers were on the well pad site. No drilling or hydraulic fracturing was taking place; preparations were being made to run tubing, which is often done prior to bringing wells into production.

The company has noted there was an uncontrolled release and a fire at the 7H well. It is not aware of the cause of the incident yet.

The company is working with local, state and federal agencies and emergency response organisations in order to assess the current situation and respond to the incident. Representatives from Wild Well Control mobilised by Chevron are currently on-site and working with the company to develop plans to safely address the situation.

Chevron has reduced its Appalachian operations in order to ensure that the company can dedicate the appropriate personnel and resources to respond to the incident.

The company said that it plans to resume normal Appalachian activities as soon as it is feasible to do so.