Appellant: in July one of the largest platforms of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), had an underwater gas pipeline leak and caused an explosion and fire of 150 meters, in the Gulf of Mexico
Employees of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) were surprised on the afternoon of last Sunday, August 22, 2021, when an explosion on one of its oil platforms in Campeche forced them to evacuate the area. After the fire was brought under control on the E-Ku-A2 platform, Pemex president Octavio Romero reports the deaths of five workers.
One of the dead is an oil tanker who worked for the state oil company, while four from the oil services company Cotemar, in addition, there are two missing from the company Bufete de Monitoreo de Condiciones e Integridad.
There are reports of six injured people being treated in hospitals, one of whom is in serious condition and the others are recovering. The PEMEX executive also ruled out that the fire was due to equipment failures or lack of maintenance.
This is the second incident at the shallow water oil field known as Kú Maloop Zap, following the explosion last July 2 in an underwater conduit that ends at the Kú-C platform.
These incidents highlight the potential for risk to oil infrastructure, while at the same time that budget cuts by previous governments and Q4's refusal not to reverse energy reform result in poor infrastructure maintenance and the potential for more disasters like this one.
search for missing persons
The company reported that the exhaustive search for missing persons remains active, “stabilizing the integrity of the facilities, as well as the damage assessment”.
"PEMEX expresses its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and provides support to workers affected by this incident, as well as their families," the statement concluded.
According to Reuters, the fire started when the platform was in operation and workers were evacuated in floteles, ships designed for unexpected evacuation and to help with the extraction of hydrocarbons.
Furthermore, it was unofficially indicated that the accident occurred at a gas and crude oil distribution centre.
Watch below the video of the explosion of the oil rig Pemex E-Ku-A2
Incidents involving the Pemex refinery this year
On August 7, 2021, the Mexican refinery Salina Cruz controlled a fire in its facilities during the early hours of the morning that left no one injured, an official of the state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) told Reuters.
The incident occurred after a magnitude 7,5 earthquake. on June 22, the epicenter was in Crucecita, Oaxaca, 148 kilometers from a refinery in Salina Cruz, where in addition to some damage to structures, there was an explosion in one of its reactors, causing a fire after the earthquake.
The “Antonio Dovalí Jaime” refinery caught fire due to the movement that raised its temperature. Pemex reported that the fire in the turbo generators and boiler caused a fire that was immediately extinguished.
On the other hand, in the early hours of the morning of July 2nd, the surface of the Gulf of Mexico caught fire as a result of a gas leak in a Pemex offshore pipeline.
In July, one of the largest platforms of Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), had a submarine gas pipeline leak and caused an explosion and fire of 150 meters, in the Gulf of Mexico
A gas leak in the submarine gas pipeline of the company Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), at a depth of almost 80 meters, caused, in the early hours of Friday (02/07), an explosion and a fire 150 meters away from the Ku Sierra platform, in the Gulf of Mexico. See the video below.
According to Pemex, the fire caused by the leak in the subsea gas pipeline was controlled after the interconnection valves were closed and it also states that there were no casualties. The causes of the fire are still being investigated.
According to the incident report, machinery at Ku Maloob Zaap's production facility was hit by heavy rain and an electrical storm. The company sent fire control boats to the Gulf of Mexico that pumped in more water to bring the situation under control. Despite rumors, the causes of the leak in the undersea gas pipeline remain unknown.
