COLONY — Natural gas wells under Colony are being sealed in favor of two new wells being built outside of town. COLONY residents whose properties hosted the 18 smaller wells received free gas in exchange. Southern Star will continue to honor those agreements when the wells are abandoned, Meyer said. (Editor’s note: Southern Star media personnel contributed to this report through a previously written story and in answers to emailed questions.)
Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline Company is completing the two high-tech wells on the outskirts of Colony for access to a large storage field under the town, and also to replace 18 small wells, several situated in residential areas.
High-pressure lateral lines running under Colony will connect the wells to the rest of Southern Star’s pipeline system.
The Colony field is a depleted natural gas production field that was converted to storage in 1953. The field will operate the same as it has, with the only difference being how it is tied into the Welda storage complex.
According to Tim Meyer, manager of storage services, the undertaking is a $4 million project, the company’s second largest in 2012, and takes advantage of the latest technology.
“It’s a big deal in our world,” said Steve Benjamin, who was managing drilling Friday, allowing that such large and complex rigs are not such a novelty in places such as Oklahoma and Texas, where gas and oil formations are much deeper and require mammoth efforts for extraction.
Southern Star is drilling the two horizontal wells just outside city limits to replace the 18 in town. This not only will improve safety but also make maintenance of the storage field safer and less time-consuming.
The new wells will connect with the storage field lateral system. After testing to ensure they deliver the same volume of gas as current wells, most, if not all, of the wells in Colony will be cut, capped and permanently abandoned.
“We’re actually the first company to do a directional well in this part of the state,” Meyer said.
Support vehicles and trailers make the well sites look like a small city in themselves.
Typical wells are deep vertical bores straight down into a formation. The new wells are relatively shallow, at 950 to 975 feet, and bores are done horizontally under Colony to the storage field.
The rig arrived for the first well at the southwest corner of town on Aug. 27, following extensive site preparation dictated by environmental regulations and Southern Star’s desire to be a good neighbor.
Workers graded the site to make sure topsoil was in good condition, added slit fences and geotec fabric and put down mats.
“It was a major project,” Meyer said.
The northeast site is an eye-catcher.
A sound curtain was erected on three sides to shield nearby homes from notice of round-the-clock drilling.
The wall is 28 feet tall and has 31 large I-beams holding it in place. Holes were drilled 10 feet deep and 16 inches in diameter, mostly through solid rock, to erect the I-beams.
Southern Star’s goal is to have the wells completed and connected to the system before winter begins.
He lauded townspeople and Southern Star employees for their cooperation.
“It really has been a collaborative team effort among all of us to get this project off the ground and running,” said Johnnie Riley, Welda Southern Star team leader.
Gas stored in the Colony field is owned by Southern Star’s customers, which includes Iola. Also, much of the gas from Colony and the other storage fields in Southern Star’s Welda complex typically is used to meet peak demands for the Kansas City area.
Wells capped in favor of new storage
