Two people died and another remains missing from an explosion and subsequent fire at a gas production platform in the Gulf of Mexico. This is not the first time such a case has occurred.
Octavio Romero Oropeza, director of the Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) oil company, confirmed this Friday that the explosion on the Nohoch-A platform, of the Cantarell complex, on the coast of the state of Campeche, Gulf of Mexico, left two dead and one missing.
The incident occurred in the early hours of Friday at a facility of the state oil company Pemex, off the coast of the states of Campeche and Tabasco, in the Campeche Sound area.
“At approximately 5:25 a.m. (11:25 GMT) there was an outbreak of fire on the Nohoch-A link platform and later on the compression platform, for which the emergency shutdown system was activated and four boats were sent to control of the fire,” said Pemex.
The President of Mexico spoke
Before the statement from the oil company was released, the Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, assured in his usual press conference that “disappeared” were also reported, without specifying the number and indicated that firefighters from the oil company and Navy personnel.
A total of 328 people were working at the plant, of which 321 were evacuated during the morning with the support of seven vessels, Pemex reported.
Videos on social networks have shown the magnitude of the fire.
Although they try to minimize it, the #fire on the Nohoch Alfa platform of @Pemex will cause gas shortages in the southeast for at least three months.
Between 500 and 700 million cubic feet will be missing, per day!
The platform was operated by the company Cotemar, responsible… pic.twitter.com/WeWxdWBGhX
— Xochitl Galvez Ruiz (@XochitlGalvez) July 8, 2023
It’s not the first time
The Cantarell deposit has been exploited by Pemex for more than 40 years and, in 2021, according to the state company, it produced 2,192 million barrels per day.
Explosions on Pemex oil platforms happen with some frequency and on other occasions they have already caused human damage. For example, on February 24, five workers disappeared and three were hospitalized after a fire at a storage plant in the city of Ixhuatlan, in the eastern state of Veracruz.
The most serious event in the country was in January 2019, when a fire and subsequent explosion of a pipeline, which was looted, left 137 dead in the town of Tlahuelilpan, in the central state of Hidalgo.
With EFE, AFP and local media
Source: France 24
