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* Operator expects to plug well within 24 hours
* Leak began while company was attempting permanent plug
July 9 (Reuters) - An inactive natural gas well in theshallow Gulf of Mexico suffered a blowout on Tuesday asoperators were trying to permanently plug the well, causing anoil sheen that briefly rekindled memories of the BP Plc spill three years ago.
Houston-based Talos Energy LLC said it was in the process ofshutting the inactive Ship Shoal 225 B-2 well when natural gasand condensate began flowing on Monday.
"In an abundance of caution, we decided to evacuate theplatform and mobilize our spill response team, we notified theU.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) andthe U.S. Coast Guard, and we shut-in two other producing wellsat the platform," said Talos President and Chief ExecutiveTimothy Duncan.
Talos, which owns the well through its subsidiary EnergyResources Technology Gulf of Mexico LLC, said the well should beplugged within 24 hours. The leak may have been due to the ageof the tubing on the well, the company said.
While the leak 74 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana,is tiny compared to the disastrous Deepwater Horizon spill in2010 that dumped 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf,it was one of the first reported blowouts in the Gulf sincethen.
"(The Ship Shoal 225 B-2 well) last produced mostly water in1998 at a rate of 65,000 cubic feet of gas, 9 barrels ofcondensate and 1,150 barrels of water per day at a low flowingpressure of 175 pounds per square inch," Talos said. The wellcould not produce without artificial lift.
All five people working on the platform were evacuated.
A U.S. Coast Guard spokesman said it did not have animmediate comment on Talos' plans to plug the leak.
"We are working closely with BSEE in overseeing that thingsare done properly," said Coast Guard spokesman Jonathan Lally.
Energy Resources has assets in the Gulf that average just16,155 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with over two-thirdsof that crude oil, Talos said in February.
