Monday, May 4, 2026, 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM CET
Date:4th May 2026 Time: 1800 (Presentations start 1830) Place: Victoria Hotel Menu:TBA
The presentation is free of charge and open to everyone. Registration is only required for the following dinner. Cancellations must be made before the registration deadline and are subject to a small fee.
NEVER WASTE A CRISIS Aliso Canyon Blowout & Recovery Presented by:
Alan J. Walker Energy & Geoscience Institute University of Utah
Abstract
On October 23, 2015, the largest methane leak from a natural gas storage facility in U.S. history was discovered by Southern California Gas Company (SoCal Gas) at the SS-25 well in its Aliso Canyon Storage Facility near Los Angeles. The blowout continued for 111 days, resulting in the well being permanently plugged and abandoned after emitting approximately 5 Bcf of natural gas and extracting the failed casing to approximately 890 feet subsurface. This failure prompted lengthy reports by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Transportation (DOT), as well as Root Cause Analyses by Blade Energy and California state agencies.
Alan Walker was in his first week as a Supervising Petroleum Engineer of the Californian Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) when the leak was discovered. He was selected to be DOGGR’s emergency response technical lead, providing regulatory oversight for seven kill attempts, relief well drilling, the Control-Cement-Confirm operation, requirements to return the facility to service, and the development of storage operations regulations.
In this talk, Alan will provide a frank discussion of the blowout and the five-year effort to improve the integrity of underground storage. The insights shared will be applicable for repurposing and retrofitting projects globally. Alan will motivate the audience to develop a safety culture that includes Management of Change, Root Cause Analysis, and the principle to “Never Waste a Crisis.”
Biography
Alan Walker is an Engineering Advisor at the Energy & Geoscience Institute (EGI), University of Utah. He counsels staff supporting geothermal, hydrocarbon, and carbon research. Alan’s career spans forty years in exploration and production (E&P) engineering, regulatory affairs, and natural gas supply and storage throughout western North America.
Alan served nine years in the U.S. Army and is a retired Army Reserve Special Forces colonel with over thirty years of service. He has completed three combat tours in Afghanistan, the Philippines, and Iraq. Alan holds a B.S. in Military Engineering from West Point, an MBA from Rensselaer, and an M.S. in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Utah.
Contact Information
Stavanger, Norway