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Figure 4.2 is a picture of a major oil blowout at the
Spindletop field near Beaumont, Texas in 1901. This field went on
to become one of the greatest oil producers in U.S. history.
Note: The Spindletop Blowout in Texas spewed 50,000 barrels per day for 9
days in 1901 before the well could be controlled. Oil drillers were ill prepared
to deal with the pressure in this reservoir as no blowout of this magnitude had
ever before been witnessed.
Figure 4.2 -Blowout
In today's drilling industry, blowouts are very rare. The
entire technology of today’s drilling industry is focused on the
ideal of drilling safely and economically into the pressurized
underground formations, without allowing any uncontrolled flow
of fluids out of the well. The well is allowed to flow through a
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