Earlier this week, a Gulf of Mexico platform fire claimed the lives of at least four workers, injured forty-five other workers (two reportedly suffered life-threatening injuries), and forced hundreds more to abandon the facility. Three workers are still missing.
The incident happened on Wednesday on the Abkatun Permanente platform, which is located in the Bay of Campeche off of the Mexican coast near the states of Campeche and Tabasco. The platform was owned by Pemex, the massive Mexican state-run oil company. Abkatun Permanente is not a production facility but rather is merely a processing platform. It takes in crude oil and gas from many different wells in the area and then separates the hydrocarbons.
Details are scarce at this time and the cause of the Pemex platform fire is currently unknown. However, early reports indicate that the fire started in the dehydration area on the platform. Thankfully, after hours of effort from firefighters, the blaze was finally contained.
No Oil Spill from Pemex Platform Fire
Despite the massive and tragic injury toll, there was no oil spilled during the fire (other than some seepage). This is because the fire happened on a processing facility with feeder lines that could be turned off. This is different from an active oil well, where the production will continue to flow uninterrupted.
This is precisely what happened to BP with the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010, which led to one of the worst oil spills in history.
Problems for Pemex
This is not first high-profile problem for Pemex in recent years. In 2012, for example, 26 people died in a fire at a Pemex facility in the northern part of Mexico. Then, in 2013, another 37 people were killed in an explosion at Pemex’s headquarters in Mexico City.
In addition to previous accidents, Pemex has also been in the news recently for having more than $1 billion in gasoline stolen from its onshore pipeline network. The problem has apparently gotten so bad that Pemex no longer transports usable gas through its pipelines.
Pemex Gulf of Mexico Platform Fire Shows Dangers Faced by Offshore Workers
The Pemex Gulf of Mexico platform fire, much like the Deepwater Horizon incident, highlights the tragedy that can occur when problems happen during oil and gas operations on offshore platforms.
Offshore accidents can be devastating and can lead to catastrophic injuries and even death. Workers should always be mindful of their surroundings and should do everything that they can to stay safe and avoid accidents while working offshore.
