Five dead, six injured in Mexican oil rig fire

Five people were killed and six injured in an oil rig fire off the coast of Mexico, the state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), which owns the rig, said Monday. Two people were listed as missing, according to a news release Monday evening, and a search for them was underway.

Monday night into Tuesday, there were reports of a balance of seven deaths and six “critically injured.”

The fire broke out on Sunday during maintenance work on the platform, the company’s president Octavio Romero Oropeza said, without giving additional details, PAP reported.

However, it is known that the platform in question is E-Ku-A2 – part of the gas processing center of the Ku-Maloob-Zaap complex in the Bay of Campeche – part of the Gulf of Mexico.

Oropeza explained that the accident has completely stopped work on the platform, which means that daily oil production in Mexico has dropped by 421,000 barrels per day (some sources say 444,000 barrels) and 125 oil wells are out of service.

The fire, which affected an offshore platform operated by state-owned Pemex, reduced production due to a shortage of natural gas needed to inject oil into producing fields (as part of well stimulation).

rel. PBS/PortalMorski.pl

Photo: #CiudadDelCarmen Alerts / Twitter

Así el incendio en la Plataforma Ku-Alfa de @Pemex en Campeche esta tarde. pic.twitter.com/nzJcwNVHst

— Salvador García Soto (@SGarciaSoto) August 23, 2021