![]() ![]() ![]() “If these pipelines later pose safety or environmental risks, there’s no clear funding source for their removal.” The bureau does “not observe any pipeline decommissioning activities, inspect pipelines after their decommissioning, or verify most of the pipeline decommissioning evidence submitted,” according to the report. “Such a high rate of approval indicates that this is not an exception, however, but rather that decommissioning-in-place has been the norm for decades,” the report found. The same goes for more than 18,000 miles of abandoned pipelines and wells, part of a vast ocean of infrastructure without any clear decommissioning standards or process for removal.Ī report from the US Government Accountability Office found that the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) under the US Interior Department has allowed the oil and gas industry to leave 97 per cent of unused pipelines in place since the 1960s. In the US, however, the agency tasked with supervising a sprawling network of active offshore oil and gas pipelines – nearly 9,000 miles of them in the Gulf of Mexico alone – does not have a “robust oversight” process or require any below-surface inspections, according to a recent federal government watchdog report. ![]() In a surreal scene, the blaze appeared to dwarf three firefighting boats blasting water cannons. "The turbomachinery of Ku Maloob Zaap's active production facilities were affected by an electrical storm and heavy rains," according to a Pemex incident report shared by one of Reuters' sources.Ĭompany workers used nitrogen to control the fire, the report added.ĭetails from the incident report were not mentioned in Pemex's brief press statement and the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.A ring of fire on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico following a ruptured gas pipeline has renewed scrutiny into the state of thousands of miles of oil and gas infrastructure in the gulf.įootage of the fire – appearing to boil the ocean’s surface with bright orange flames – went viral on 2 July after a leak was reported near a platform used for offshore drilling by Mexico’s state-owned oil company Pemex. Ku Maloob Zaap is Pemex's biggest crude oil producer, accounting for more than 40% of its nearly 1.7 million barrels of daily output. Pemex, which has a long record of major industrial accidents at its facilities, added it also shut the valves of the 12-inch-diameter pipeline.Īngel Carrizales, head of Mexico's oil safety regulator ASEA, wrote on Twitter that the incident "did not generate any spill." He did not explain what was burning on the water's surface. The company added it would investigate the cause of the fire. ![]() It was completely extinguished by 10:30 a.m. Pemex said no injuries were reported, and production from the project was not affected after the gas leak ignited around 5:15 a.m. Ku Maloob Zaap is located just up from the southern rim of the Gulf of Mexico. The fire began in an underwater pipeline that connects to a platform at Pemex's flagship Ku Maloob Zaap oil development, the company's most important, four sources told Reuters earlier. The fire took more than five hours to fully put out, according to Pemex. I know this might sound controversial, but maybe extracting fossil fuels from the seafloor (or anywhere really) is a bad idea /J4ur5MNyt1 A fire on the ocean surface west of Mexico's Yucatan peninsula early on Friday has been extinguished, state oil company Pemex said, blaming a gas leak from an underwater pipeline for sparking the blaze captured in videos that went viral.īright orange flames jumping out of water resembling molten lava was dubbed an "eye of fire" on social media due to the blaze's circular shape, as it raged a short distance from a Pemex oil platform. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |