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Deep Panuke back pumping natural gas after fire temporarily closes offshore well

August 7, 2014 11:13 AM
The Canadian Press

HALIFAX – The Deep Panuke natural gas wells off Nova Scotia have resumed production after an electrical fire shut down operations on Sunday evening.

A spokesman for Encana (TSX:ECA) says the wells, located about 250 kilometres east of Halifax, started pumping natural gas early today.

Jay Averill says in an email the wells are back to pre-shutdown levels of 210 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

An inquiry into the cause of the fire will be prepared by Encana and operator SBM Offshore and the report will be reviewed by the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board.

A board spokeswoman said Wednesday that a transformer caught fire and a sprinkler system extinguished the blaze.

The platform also had an electrical fire on Jan. 19, 2013, that resulted in a temporary shutdown of its operations.

Safety reports obtained by The Canadian Press said a failure to conduct annual maintenance inspections was the underlying reason behind that fire.

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