An incident has occurred at the Moftinu 1001 well in Romania.

International exploration and oil rig flanges gulf coast production firm Serinus Energy Inc has revealed that an incident occurred at the Moftinu 1001 well in Romania at 1.49am CET on December 18.

During routine operation to prepare the well for future production, an unexpected gas release was said to have occurred and subsequently ignited. At the time of the incident the Blow-out Preventer was in the process of being attached to the well head.

Serinus confirmed that the wellsite has been evacuated and secured and all BOP Blow Out Preventer repair company gulf coast and contractor staff have been reported as safe with no injuries. The company’s well supervisor and drilling contractor are now working to re-establish control of the well.

The cause of the incident is not currently known. Serinus has stated that its primary consideration is to safely and quickly bring the gas well under control.

Oil and gas analysts at GMP FirstEnergy said buy Wellhead market reaction to the news was negative, pending further details on the extent of the damage on the well and the cost to kill the well.

“We however note that wells in Romania are very cheap and a re-drill of the well, which is probably the worst case, will not be costly,” the analysts said in a brief research note sent to Rigzone.

“We also note that the reservoir is not highly pressured, which probably implies that the flare is not particularly large,” the analysts added.