By Daniel Gilbert
Two Chevron Corp. natural-gas wells in southwestern Pennsylvania
are no longer on fire after an explosion last week that left one
worker missing, according to the company.
Chevron said the flames had gone out Saturday afternoon at the
well site in Dunkard Township, about 70 miles south of Pittsburgh.
Workers were preparing to remove a charred crane above one well and
stop the gas from flowing. A company spokesman said there is no
word of the missing worker, a contractor.
"It is premature to speculate on what caused the flames to go
out," the company said, adding that the crane is now cool enough
that it won't cause gas flowing from the wells to ignite.
The blast took place early on the morning of Feb. 11, as Chevron
and its contractors were running tubes through the well to start
producing natural gas.
The fire heated the crane to such an intensity that a second
well on the site ignited, the company said.
Write to Daniel Gilbert at daniel.gilbert@wsj.com
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