Skip to main content
We may receive compensation from affiliate partners for some links on this site. Read our full Disclosure here.

Exploded Suddenly? Fires Break Out At Three Facilities in America & Mexico Owned by One Company


7,981 views

On Thursday, Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company, had a massive explosion and fire at a storage facility in the state of Veracruz.

Five workers were unaccounted for after the incident and three others went to the hospital due to injuries.

However, this wasn’t the lone fire to hit Pemex Thursday.

The company experienced fires at three facilities in one day.

Two fires occurred at facilities in Mexico, while one blaze started at a facility in Texas.

Oil Price explained:

Pemex reported on Thursday a fire at the storage facility Tuzandepetl in the state of Veracruz. The fire started in the drilling equipment for reasons that are yet unknown, the Mexican company said. Five workers are unaccounted for after the incident, while three others are being treated for their injuries in hospital, Pemex said, adding that the fire was extinguished.

Later on Thursday, the company said that there was a fire at the Minatitlán refinery in the same state, Veracruz. The fire was contained and later extinguished, but five workers were injured, Pemex said.

The refinery hasn’t stopped operations and there hasn’t been damage to refinery equipment, according to the company. The cause of this fire is assumed to be the spilling of product on a hot surface, Pemex added.

The third fire in one day at a Pemex facility occurred in the Pemex-run refinery in Deer Park, Texas. A fire incident was reported at one of the units of the Deer Park refinery on Thursday, according to a community alert quoted by Reuters. The fire incident was being handled within the refinery, and the alert was later updated to all-clear, according to Reuters.

Watch footage from Veracruz below:

Pemex issued statements on the two fires at the Veracruz-based facilities.

From Pemex:

Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) extinguished a fire that started in the PM-119 drilling rig that provided maintenance to the Tuzandepetl-331 Cavity, which is part of the cavity rehabilitation project of the Tuzandepetl Strategic Storage Plant, located in the municipality of Ixhuatlan of the Southeast, Veracruz. 

A fire started in the drilling equipment for reasons not yet determined, for which reason the Emergency Attention and Management Group was immediately activated to control and extinguish the fire. 

Due to this event, there are three injured workers who are being treated at the PEMEX Hospital and exhaustive activities are being carried out to locate five more workers.

Pemex also stated:

Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) extinguished a fire in the area of ​​the bank of heat exchangers of the Combined Maya plant of the Minatitlán Refinery, thanks to operating and fire-fighting personnel who managed to control the outbreak. 

Due to this event, there is a record of five injured people who are treated by PEMEX medical services. Likewise, it is reported that there was no interruption in the operation of the plant and there is no record of damage to the refinery facilities.

Reuters noted on the Deer Park fire:

A Thursday night fire at Pemex’s PEMX.UL 312,500 barrel-per-day (bpd) Deer Park, Texas refinery broke out in a crude distillation unit (CDU), said people familiar with plant operations.

The sources did not know which of two Deer Park CDUs were hit by fire. The plant has a 270,000-bpd and 70,000-bpd CDU, which break down crude oil into feedstocks for all other refining units.

It’s all a coincidence, right?



 

Join the conversation!

Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!

Hey, Noah here!

Wondering where we went?

Read this and bookmark our new site!

See you over there!

Thanks for sharing!