Press Release, 18 December 2017
Serinus Energy Inc. (“Serinus”, “SEN” or the “Company”) (TSX:SEN, WSE:SEN), reports that at
1:49am CET on Monday December 18, 2017, during routine operation to prepare the Moftinu 1001 well
for future production, an unexpected gas release occurred and subsequently ignited. The company
was continuing the process of bringing the well out of suspension in advance of production. At the time
of the incident the Blow-out Preventer (“BOP”) was in the process of being attached to the well head.
The wellsite has been evacuated and secured and all Company and contractor staff have been reported
as safe with no injuries. The Company’s well supervisor and drilling contractor are now working to reestablish control of the well.
The Satu Mare County fire department responded immediately and they are at the well site to ensure
containment of the fire. Officials from the town of Moftinu, Satu Mare County, and the National Agency
of Mineral Resources are also on site. The cause of this incident is not currently known and the
Company's primary consideration is to safely and quickly bring the gas well under control. The Company
will provide ongoing status updates to the market.
The fire at Moftinu Mare, Satu Mare county, broke out in the morning of December 18, while the employees of the company that owns the well were trying to install a safety valve, meant to prevent gas leaks. After the installation of this valve, the well was supposed to go into production, which did not happen due to the fire. Although there were no human victims, the resources deployed, in the almost three weeks that the probe burned, were impressive. During the 20 days, firefighters from eight county inspectorates worked at the gas well site, totaling almost 300 people who were permanently in the vicinity of the fire.
Press Release, 18 December 2017
Serinus Provides Update to Moftinu 1001 Well Incident
Serinus Energy Inc. (“Serinus”, “SEN” or the “Company”) (TSX:SEN, WSE:SEN) reports that the
situation at the Moftinu 1001 wellsite remains stable. The Company has contracted SafetyBoss, an
internationally renowned well control company based in Calgary, Canada, to manage the Moftinu 1001
well incident. SafetyBoss is sending a well control team into Romania, who will arrive within the next 36
hours. Equipment is currently being secured to enable well control activities.
The Company also remains in contact with all relevant Authorities and the emergency services in Satu
Mare County, and continues to closely monitor the situation. The cause of this incident is not currently
known and the Company's primary consideration is to safely and quickly bring the gas well under control.
The Company will provide ongoing status updates to the market.
Mike Miller
At the end of December, the Serinus company, which owns the exploitation at Moftinu Mare, called the Canadians from Safety Boss, specialized in such incidents, to help put out the fire at the gas well. The action was coordinated by Mike Miller, the director of the company, but also a true legend in solving this type of fire. On Saturday, 6 January 2018, Miller, helped by the Romanian firefighters, managed to definitively close the fire at Moftinu Mare, thus reaching 500 cases of this kind solved.
Press Release Moftinu-1001, 7 January 2018
Well Brought Safely Under Control
Serinus Energy Inc. (“Serinus”, “SEN” or the “Company”) (TSX:SEN, WSE:SEN) reports that it has
been successful in safely bringing the Moftinu 1001 gas well back under control. As previously released,
the loss of control of the well occurred at 1:49am EET on Monday 18 December 2017, during routine
operations to prepare the Moftinu 1001 well for future production. During that operation an unexpected
gas release occurred and subsequently ignited.
Safety Boss, the well control experts, have been on site since 20 December 2017 and have worked
diligently since that time to clear the site of damaged rig equipment in order to gain the required access
to the well-head that allowed for the well control operation to be performed. The Romanian Ministry of
Emergency Situations (“IGSU”) was also on site and provided valuable assistance, including the
provision of water pumping equipment and fire trucks.
The Company will now move forward with an independent investigation of the incident and evaluate the
well workover requirements to prepare the well for production.
The Company is pleased to have the well safely back under control and would like to express its
profound gratitude to the many people and contractors whose tireless work assisted the Company in its
efforts. Those involved included Safety Boss, IGSU, ISU Satu Mare, ISU Maramures, ISU Bihor, ISU
Bistrita, ISU Cluj, ISU Timis, ISU Salaj, the Mayor and people of Moftinu, the Prefect of the Satu Mare
County, the National Agency for Mineral Resources Special thanks to Dr. Raed Arafat – in charge of the
Emergency Situation Department, acting as State Secretary within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for his
valuable assistance and support. The Company was also active in keeping the local communities
informed of the progress of the operation and expresses its gratitude for their patience and
understanding.
The Company has been in continuous contact with its Insurance Broker and the appointed Insurance
adjustor in regards to the incident and to the insurance coverage and claim.
The well 1001 Moftinu reached a total depth of 1,463 meters on November 28,2014, after penetrating the entire Miocene and Pliocene sandstone.
Following the decision to permanently abandon the Moftinu-1001 well, Canadian company Serinus Energy initiated planning and bidding for the immediate drilling of a replacement well. The company has identified a new location, well located, approximately 300 meters from the Moftinu-1001 construction site. The company requested an emergency approval to accelerate drilling and completion of the future Moftinu-1007 station.
The Canadians hired a Romanian consulting firm, recognized by the Romanian authorities, to carry out an analysis of the causes of the Moftinu-1001 incident. In addition, the company is in the process of hiring its international company to also conduct a root cause investigation. The results of these investigations will be communicated to the competent authorities in Romania. It is anticipated that these investigations will take place before the new Moftinu-1007 station is drilled.
During massive searches on October 19, 2022, the police discovered a whole network of people bringing in products of poor or dubious quality from China and changing their labels to European ones, and then marketing them as products on the mainland . our.
Such a product, more precisely a valve, was the one that took care of the shower and the fire in Moftin from the gas well.
"From the investigations carried out, it was established that, on 18.12.2017, a fire occurred at a gas well in Moftin commune, Satu Mare county, the cause of the fire was a gas leak at a safety valve. From the available data it appears that the valve that generated the gas leaks was installed at the Moftin 1001 well by C. S.R.L. Câmpina, Prahova county, company specialized in "turnkey" design in the field of oil and gas drilling and extraction. Regarding this valve, from the available data it appears that it was purchased by C. S.R.L. Campina de R. S.R.L. (...) A poor-quality valve in Rombet would have triggered gas leaks at a well in Satu Mare, which led to a fire," say DIICOT prosecutors.
