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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2007 
Fires Still Burning on Mexican Oil Rig
 Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
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| | In this image released by the Mexican state-owned oil company PEMEX on Wednesday Nov. 21, 2007, emergency boats work to put out a fire at the Kab 121 oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico last Nov. 14, 2007. Workers are still battling a nightmarish combination of gas and crude leaks, fires and oil slicks at the damaged oil platform, almost a month after it was damaged in an accident that killed at least 21. (AP/PEMEX) |
Mexico City - Workers were still fighting a nightmarish combination of gas and crude oil leaks, fires and oil slicks at a damaged Mexican oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, almost a month after it was damaged in an accident that killed at least 21 people, an official said.
Since the Oct. 23 accident, the platform has experienced bad weather and at least three fires.
A constant cloud of toxic gas has prevented crews from making repairs, and it catches fire so easily that six firefighting boats are pumping thousands of tons of sea water over the platform to cool the metal and extinguish fires, the state oil company, Petroleos Mexicanos, has reported.
On Tuesday, crews briefly extinguished the latest blaze at the Kab 121 platform, 20 miles from the port of Dos Bocas, only to see it re-ignite, said a Pemex representative who was not authorized to be quoted by name. It was still burning Wednesday.
Pemex says the platform has been spilling an average of 430 barrels of oil per day into the Gulf - almost 13,000 barrels to date - and its crews have been trying to recover the spilled oil.
Pemex officials have described the repair efforts as extremely complicated. The platform appears to be spewing a combination of natural gas, which is highly flammable, and hydrogen sulfide gas, which is highly toxic. The heat of the three fires - all probably caused by sparks - has heated and blackened the entire platform.
Pemex has promised internal and external investigations of the accident.
The accident occurred when high waves hit a drilling rig operated by a subcontractor, sending a boom crashing into the platform's valve assembly. |
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