Cleaning Up Kuwait's Oil Fields

At the outset of the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq’s generals gave orders to demolish Kuwait’s oil production facilities and wells to insure the coalition forces would recapture nothing of value. The ensuing scorched earth tactics led to the destruction of over 85% of Kuwaiti oil wells. Serious fires erupted in over 600 of the 700 wells that were blown up sending up toxic clouds of smoke. Oil flowed at uncontrolled rates. Enormous lakes of oil covering 100’s of square kilometers formed in the flat desert. Another hope was that the massive flames and smoke would prevent coalition forces from operating; however it had very little impact on the advancing troops. The efforts to control fires and well blow outs lasted nearly 9 months. Fallout of immeasurable proportions continues to be an issue to this day and it is estimated that 1 billion barrels of oil were consumed in those fires.

Numerous challenges had to be overcome to cap a blazing well. First the heat from the fires combined with the hot desert sun made in extremely difficult to even get near the well sites and toxic black smoke reduced visibility in the area. The blaze must first be extinguished before custom designed equipment can be used to seal the blow outs. Massive amounts of water were needed to fight the blaze, which had to be trucked in and stored near the site in 500 gallon tanks or large pits that were dug. Preparations for an attempt on a blaze took several days. Crude oil spewed from the extinguished wells high into the sky. Wind carried the black substance as far away as 500 yards covering both man and machine. A process called “stinging” sealed the blow out. The stinger assembly attached to a pump truck delivers mud at high pressure and volume to overcome the flow of oil.

Another regional problem of great concern is the enormous quantities of waste oil in tank bottoms and earth pits. Although the U.N. has pledged several billion dollars towards the cleanup much of the funds have been unused, however some progress is finally being made. Each pit is a mixture of sub standard oil, chemicals, and other solid by products from the oil extraction process that may contain up to 30 million barrels of usable oil. Methods are being developed to bring up this sludge and separate out the usable oil and contain the left over chemicals and waste materials.

Due to regulations put in place by the Environmental Protection Agency oil extraction performed in the U.S. by companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corp produce far less waste than Kuwait. A similar organization in Kuwait has made some changes however due to mounting political pressure for development many environmentally harmful methods are still practiced.


About the Author: Robert Jent is President & CEO of Triple Diamond Energy Corp. Triple Diamond Energy is an independent producer of oil and natural gas. Located in the Dallas area, the company specializes in acquiring the highest quality prime oil and gas properties.