LOS ANGELES, Feb. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Southern
California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) today announced that it temporarily
has controlled the flow of natural gas at the leaking well at its
Aliso Canyon storage facility outside Los
Angeles. It will continue to work in coordination with the
California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR)
and other agencies during the process of permanently sealing the
well.
On Dec. 4, 2015, SoCalGas
commenced drilling a relief well to stop the natural gas leak by
plugging the leaking well at its base. On Feb. 11, 2016, the relief well intercepted the
base of the leaking well, and the company began pumping heavy
fluids to temporarily control the flow of gas out of the leaking
well. DOGGR officials and representatives from other state
and local agencies were at the site to observe the operation. The
leak and the flow of gas will be declared ended once DOGGR has
confirmed that the well has been permanently sealed.
"We have temporarily controlled the natural gas flow from the
leaking well and begun the process of sealing the well and
permanently stopping the leak," said Jimmie
Cho, SoCalGas senior vice president of gas operations and
system integrity, and SoCalGas incident commander.
While this is a positive development, cement will need to be
injected from the relief well into the leaking well at its base in
order to permanently seal it, which could occur over the next
several days. The process by which DOGGR will confirm that
the leaking well is permanently sealed could take several
additional days after the cement is injected. The company
also is continuing its preparations to drill a back-up relief well
as a precautionary measure and will continue these efforts at least
until the leak has been stopped permanently, the timing of which
has not been determined yet.
Residents in Porter Ranch who
temporarily relocated because of the odor from the gas leak have
been notified today of this development, as have the majority of
other residents of Porter Ranch. Once DOGGR confirms that the
well has been permanently sealed, the company will start winding
down its temporary relocation program. Subject to certain
exceptions, residents who have temporarily relocated to short term
housing, such as hotels, will have up to eight days/seven nights to
transition back home, and residents who have been placed in rental
housing will have through the agreed term of their leases to return
home. Specific information on return home process can be
found here:
https://www.alisoupdates.com/acu-return-home-faq
About Southern California Gas Co: Southern California Gas
Co. (SoCalGas) has been delivering clean, safe and reliable natural
gas to its customers for more than 145 years. It is the nation's
largest natural gas distribution utility, providing service to 21.6
million consumers connected through 5.9 million meters in more than
500 communities. The company's service territory encompasses
approximately 20,000 square miles throughout central and
Southern California, from
Visalia to the Mexican border.
SoCalGas is a regulated subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE), a
Fortune 500 energy services holding company based in San Diego.
This press release contains statements that are not
historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements can be identified by words like "believes,"
"expects," "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "projects,"
"forecasts," "contemplates," "intends," "depends," "should,"
"could," "would," "will," "confident," "may," "potential,"
"possible," "proposed," "target," "pursue," "goals," "outlook,"
"maintain" or similar expressions, or discussions of guidance,
strategies, plans, goals, opportunities, projections, initiatives,
objectives or intentions. Forward-looking statements are not
guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and
assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving
judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including,
among others: local, regional, national and international economic,
competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and
developments; actions and the timing of actions, including
issuances of permits to construct and licenses for operation, by
the California Public Utilities Commission, California State
Legislature, U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, California Energy Commission, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, California Air Resources Board, and other
regulatory, governmental and environmental bodies in the United States; the timing and success of
business development efforts and construction, maintenance and
capital projects, including risks in obtaining, maintaining or
extending permits, licenses, certificates and other authorizations
on a timely basis and risks in obtaining adequate and competitive
financing for such projects; energy markets, including the timing
and extent of changes and volatility in commodity prices, and the
impact of any protracted reduction in oil and natural gas prices
from historical averages; the impact on the value of our natural
gas storage assets from low natural gas prices, low volatility of
natural gas prices and the inability to procure favorable long-term
contracts for natural gas storage services; delays in the timing of
costs incurred and the timing of the regulatory agency
authorization to recover such costs in rates from customers;
deviations from regulatory precedent or practice that result in a
reallocation of benefits or burdens among shareholders and
ratepayers; capital markets conditions, including the availability
of credit and the liquidity of our investments; inflation and
interest rates; the availability of electric power and natural gas,
and natural gas pipeline and storage capacity, including
disruptions caused by failures in the North American transmission
grid, pipeline explosions and equipment failures; cybersecurity
threats to the energy grid, natural gas storage and pipeline
infrastructure, the information and systems used to operate our
businesses and the confidentiality of our proprietary information
and the personal information of our customers, terrorist attacks
that threaten system operations and critical infrastructure, and
wars; weather conditions, conservation efforts, natural disasters,
catastrophic accidents, and other events that may disrupt our
operations, damage our facilities and systems, and subject us to
third-party liability for property damage or personal injuries some
of which may or may not be covered by insurance; risks that our
partners or counterparties will be unable or unwilling to fulfill
their contractual commitments;business, regulatory, environmental
and legal decisions and requirements; the inability or
determination not to enter into long-term supply and sales
agreements or long-term firm capacity agreements due to
insufficient market interest, unattractive pricing or other
factors; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all
of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our
control. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the
reports that the company has filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. These reports are available through the EDGAR system
free-of-charge on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov. Investors should
not rely unduly on any forward-looking statements. These
forwardlooking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the
company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these
forecasts or projections or other forward-looking statements,
whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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SOURCE Southern California Gas Co.