A fire on the ocean surface near Mexico that was started by a gas leak was extinguished Friday after videos of the blaze went viral.
The fire was started by a gas leak from an underwater pipeline that connects a platform at state oil company Pemex’s Ku Maloob Zaap oil development, four sources told Reuters.
The company’s most important oil development is located just north of the southern rim of the Gulf of Mexico.
The flames on the surface of the water looked like something out of the movie and was called the “eye of fire” as the fire burned west of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.
? Incendio registrado en aguas del Golfo de México
A 400 metros de la plataforma Ku-Charly (dentro del Activo Integral de Producción Ku Maloob Zaap)
Una válvula de una línea submarina habría reventado y provocado el incendio
Esta fuera de control hace 8 horas pic.twitter.com/KceOTDU1kX
— Manuel Lopez San Martin (@MLopezSanMartin) July 2, 2021
The fire burned for five hours, from 5:15 a.m. until 10:45 a.m., before it was extinguished, according to CNN.
No injuries or evacuations of the facility have been reported as of Saturday morning.
? Sobre el incendio registrado en aguas del Golfo de México, en la Sonda de Campeche, a unos metros de la plataforma Ku-Charly (dentro del Activo Integral de Producción Ku Maloob Zaap)
Tres barcos han apoyado para sofocar las llamas pic.twitter.com/thIOl8PLQo
— Manuel Lopez San Martin (@MLopezSanMartin) July 2, 2021
“The turbomachinery of Ku Maloob Zaap’s active production facilities were affected by an electrical storm and heavy rains,” an incident report of the incident shared with Reuters read.
Nitrogen was used to help company workers control the fire.
“The incident was dealt with immediately when the security protocols were activated and with the accompaniment of nearby firefighting vessels such as Santa Cruz Island, Campeche Bay and Bourbon Alienor,” Pemex said in a statement, according to Market Research Telecast.
Angel Carrizales, head of Mexico’s oil safety regulator ASEA, tweeted that the incident “did not generate any spill” but did not explain what was burning on the surface of the water, according to Reuters.
The company said it would investigate the cause of the fire.
Greenpeace said that the accident shows the risks created by fossil fuel energy models.
“As part of the fossil fuel extractivist model, these are the risks that we face daily and that call for a change in the energy model,” Gustavo Ampugnani, executive director of Greenpeace Mexico, told Market Research Telecast.
Pemex has a record of major industrial accidents at its facilities, Reuters reported.
The company is also over $113 billion in debt.
The Ku Maloob Zaap complex accounts for over 40 percent of Pemex’s nearly 1.7 million barrels of daily output.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
