Fire on Pemex offshore platform kills one, injures 11
09 April 2024
At least one person was killed after a fire broke out on an offshore platform operated by Pemex on 6 April. Mexico’s national oil company said that the fire broke out at 16:48 local time on one of the platforms of the Akal-B Process Centre (Akal-B1), in the area where the pipelines that handle fuel gas for the turbomachinery are located.
Image: Pemex
Pemex said in a statement that its Emergency Response Plan (ERP) was immediately activated at the facility, and the fire was brought under control at 17:04. On 7 April, Pemex confirmed that a worker from local contract company COTER had died in the incident.
Five other Coter employees were also injured – all were taken to hospital where one was in a serious condition, three were treated for first- and second-degree burns, and another was treated for minor injuries. Three more contractors from a second contractor, Diavaz, were also injured and received treatment in hospital.
Pemex added that one of its employees was in a serious condition with two more suffering first- and second-degree burn injuries but were in stable health conditions. Three more Pemex employees were treated in hospital and were later released.
An investigation into the incident has been opened to determine the cause behind the blaze, Pemex said.
The Akal-B platform is part of Pemex’s Cantarell complex which produces around 200,000 barrels of crude oil a day. In July 2023, a fire in the same complex killed three workers. The incident occurred on the Nohoch-A link platform before spreading to a compression platform. Around 700,000 barrels of crude oil were lost, Pemex said.
More information...