|
Blowout preventer from the Daszewo - 1 drill hole, now kept at Oil Museum at Bóbrka, Krosno County
|
|
| Date | December 9, 1980 — January 8, 1981 |
|---|---|
| Location | Karlino, Poland |
| Reported injuries | 1 soldier |
| Reported property damage |
|
The Karlino oil eruption took place on December 9, 1980 near Karlino, a town located in northern Poland, near the Baltic Sea coast. The eruption and fire which followed it put an end to the dreams of Poland becoming a second Kuwait.[1] It took more than a month for Polish, Soviet and Hungarian firefighters to completely extinguish the fire.[2] The eruption was the result of extensive search for underground oil deposits, which took place in the area of Karlino in mid- and late 1980.
Contents |
In 1980, Pomeranian town of Karlino became a symbol of Polish hopes for a new Kuwait[3], because of discovery of oil deposits, located around the town. At that time Poland was in a severe economic crisis, foreign debt was mounting, and both Communist authorities and the nation hoped that oil from Karlino would be sold to the West for hard currency, desperately needed to pay back the debt. Oil in Karlino played a symbolic role to the Poles - they took it as another sign for a better future, after election of John Paul II, and creation of Solidarity.[4] Hopes were high - among disappointed officials who visited the site after the fire were First Secretary of the Communist Party Stanisław Kania, as well as Solidarity chairman, Lech Wałęsa.
On December 9, 1980, in a 2800-meter deep drill hole Daszewo - 1, located in the village of Krzywopłoty (4,5 kilometers from Karlino), a giant eruption of oil and natural gas took place. Soon afterwards, a fire broke out, with flames reaching up to 130 meters. The incident occurred at 5:30 p.m., and at night, the area around the drill hole was bright from the fire. The heat of burning mix of gas and oil reached 900° C, and in spite of sub-zero temperatures, leaves appeared on frozen trees. During the night of December 9/10, four workers were burned and had to be taken to hospital in Białogard. Eighteen teams of firefighters arrived at the site, and evacuation of nearby households was ordered. Since the fire took place in the area adjacent to main East - West National Route Nr. 6 (Droga Krajowa nr 6), Szczecin - bound lanes were closed. Equipment of workers, as well as their shacks were burned. The pressure of oil reached 560 atmospheres, and the fire was visible from several kilometers away. At that time, it was one of the biggest oil eruptions in the history of Europe.[5]
On December 11, specialized units of Polish Army, firefighters, police, mining search and rescue unit from Kraków, and specialists from Kraków’s AGH University of Science and Technology began working on protecting local area from flames. News of the fire quickly circulated Poland, all newspapers informed about the operation on front pages. The press wrote: "Days hot like oil", "A report from Karlino", "Karlino without a Christmas break", "Karlino's torch", "Artillery and sappers in Karlino".[1] Five days later, on December 16, firefighters from Hungary and Soviet Union joined the Poles, and command of the operation was taken by engineer Adam Kilar and Soviet expert Leon Kalyna from Poltava, who himself was of Polish ancestry.[6] By December 18, the area adjacent to the drill hole was cleared of burned and destroyed steel parts of the oil well. Furthermore, a road was constructed to the locations of two new wells.
The operation aimed at extinguishing the fire was very elaborate and the preparation lasted almost a month, until January 2, 1981. A special pipeline was constructed, and the population of Poland was vividly interested in these events. Every day, hundreds of letters came to Karlino with suggestions on how to put the fire out. After long consideration, the specialists came up with the following solution. First, remnants of the destroyed oil well and blowout preventer were removed. The well was removed by a specially constructed tractor, equipped with a 30-meter arm and hooks on end. The preventer, however, was removed by a cannon, shooting at it from the distance of 25 meters. The task was to aim at a small crack between flanges of the preventer. At first, an 85 mm cannon was used, then a 122 mm howitzer, and finally, a 152 mm cannon-howitzer managed to destroy the preventer, which happened on December 28, 1980.[1] After all the preparations, on January 8, 1981, almost a month after the eruption, the fire was extinguished. Local magazine "Karlino Chronicle" wrote: “At 10:42 a.m. a stream of water from 23 cannons was aimed at the burning geyser of oil. After 16 minutes, the fire wen out, and specialists removed the damaged flanges”.[1]
On January 10, 1981, at 3:38 p.m., a new preventer was installed, which harnessed the overflowing oil. Therefore, the operation was finished, after 32 days. Altogether, some 1000 people were involved in the mission, and the town of Karlino became famous all over the country. The new preventer was constructed at May 1 Works in Ploesti, Romania. It weigted 11 tons, and was lifted by a 100-ton crane, with a 60-meter arm. The operation cost about 300 million zlotys, and during the fire, some 20,000 - 30,000 tons of oil burned, as well as 30 - 50 million cubic meters of natural gas. Also, one soldier was slightly injured.[6]
During the investigation, it was established that the cause of the eruption was lack of tightness in the blowout preventer.[6] Most likely, gaskets were damaged and the preventer was not locked on time. The fire was caused by gasoline engines of the pumps. Another reason of the eruption was an inaccurate geologic assessment - specialists expected oil deposits to be found 2,952 meters underground, but it turned out to be 2,792 meters underground, 160 meters higher than expected.
On January 16, 1981, at 3:55 p.m., a cargo train with seventeen cars filled with oil left Karlino rail station, heading towards refinery in Trzebinia. Hopes were high, but it turned out that oil was scarce, and after a few years, it ran out. Also, as experts from Kraków stated, the Karlino oil was of average quality, with 0,58% of sulphur. As experts later stated, if the fire had lasted for two more weeks, all oil would have burned out.[7]
Since October 2002, Daszewo - 1 drill hole has been used for exploitation of natural gas. Altogether, more than 850 tons of oil were extracted and transported to Trzebinia - much less than expected. In December 2010, mayor of Karlino announced plans for opening of an interactive museum, dedicated to the 1980 eruption.[8] The drill hole currently serves as an underground natural gas storage facility, with capacity of 30 million cubic meters.