Old Storage Tank and oil well

[James74]

Someone gave my Dad an old gas storage tank. Since, we have recently purchased a diesel tractor, TLB, and RTV we are wanting to start using bulk off road diesel. My question is what would be the best way to clean the tank? It does have a little bit of rust on the inside, so it does need cleaned. Or is it a lost cause?

On the property we are using our diesel toys, there is an old natural gas/oil well that was shut off about 20 years ago. According to the previous owner there is still a supply of natural gas and oil in the well. I know I could tap the natural gas for our own use, but is there anything I can do with the oil. The property is located in Ohio and the color of the oil is green.

James

 

[JESSE1]

The best thing to do with that old well is to leave it alone! Trying to use the gas would be very risky. You don't know what kind of pressure is there. The natural gas used by consumers has a low regulated pressure of about 2 psi. The gas pressure off a well could be very high. Also, it would not have any odorant in it. If you tried to use the gas and had a leak you couldn't smell it. Many explosions have occured from this.

 

[rswyan]

I have a gas transmission line that runs across our property that went to several storage wells. It was recently taken out of service and disconnected. Pipe itself was maybe 12" or 14" in diameter. The flange plate they used to cap it was probably 2" thick solid steel, attached with a dozen or 1 1/2" bolts. The line pressure was 5000 psi - it's very definitely not anything that you would want to hit with a backhoe or mess around with in any way, shape, or form (think mushroom cloud here.)

 

[Egon]

Unless you are prepared to invest dollars in a well workover, process equipment, pipeline and numererous other requirements that will be required by law LEAVE IT ALONE.

Just running a pipe from the well head xmas tree to the house just isn't all that is invoved.

Egon

 

[EastTexFrank]

I would leave well alone (sorry about the pun). What no one has mentioned is that, although the well is shut in, it probably still belongs to someone or some company who won't want you messing with it. Just because it is on your property doesn't mean that it belongs to you. Even if you own the mineral rights, it is still probably leased and owned by others. You could be getting yourself into a potentially costly legal mess by tampering with it and it'll only get worse if you happen to spill any oil on the ground although I can't see any well that will flow oil to the surface being shut in and abandoned, especially at todays prices.

There is also a safety issue involved. Sometimes the gas being produced contains other gases besides methane and some of them can be really bad news.