Mexico’s Agencia de Seguridad, Energia y Ambiente (ASEA) has found that Petróleos Mexicanos' (Pemex) Abkatún Permanente platform incident that left four dead, 16 injured and three missing, was caused by a leak in a rarely used gas fuel line that had corroded, and will not lead to any fines against the state-run oil company, according to news reports.
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Fire at Abkatún. Image from Pemex. |
The explosion was caused by a leak in a rarely used gas fuel line, which showed an unusual kind of accelerated corrosion due to the presence of microorganisms and sulfuric acid within the gas, ASEA director Carlos de Regules said in an interview, according to Reuters.
The two elements caused a rupture in the line and the escaping gas ignited, de Regules said, adding that measures are being put in place to prevent a repeat of the accident, including a revision of dozens of miles (km) of similar gas lines.There will be no sanctions because the probe revealed no failure to comply with applicable regulations.
The fatal fire aboard the Abkatún Permanente platform erupted in the early morning hours of 1 April. Out of the 301 people that were evacuated, 16 were seriously injured; three Cotemar workers and one Pemex worker died; and two Cotemar and one Pemex were never found.
Along with ASEA, authorities from Procuraduría General de la República (PGR), and the secretary of labor and social welfare conducted investigations to determine the cause of the fire.
Abkatún is part of Pemex's Abkatún-Pol-Chuc complex, that is located 132km northeast from the Port of Dos Bocas between the states of Campeche and Tabasco. Production at the light oil fields began in 1980.
According to the US Energy Information Administration, production from Abkatún-Pol-Chuc has declined from its mid-1990s peak levels, when output exceeded 700,000 b/d. Production was only reported to be under 300,000 b/d in 2013.
Pemex has experienced a string of incidents this year.
Most recently, this month, Pemex had to evacuate 85 workers from the Sihil-A platform in the Bay of Campache, offshore Mexico, due to a gas leak. No injuries or fire was reported.
In June, a fire aboard its unmanned Akal-H platform was quickly put out in the Bay of Campeche.
In May, two Typhoon Offshore Services workers died and one was injured at the Troll Solution jackup platform, after one of its legs failed.
Read more:
Pemex reports latest offshore incident
Pemex to restore Abkatún production
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