Mexico’s Pemex Battles Crazy Fire Near Offshore Oil Platform in Gulf of Mexico

An update from Pemex said the fire was extinguished at about 10:45 a.m.

By Amy Stillman (Bloomberg) —

A fire has broken out near Pemex’s Ku Maloob Zaap offshore platform complex after a submarine pipeline valve broke, leaking oil into the country’s Gulf Coast.

A video posted on social media showed three ships trying to suffocate a fire emerging from the sea, very close to an offshore platform. A Pemex representative didn’t respond to a request for comment or confirm the video footage.

The fire has been controlled and no injuries reported, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be named because they aren’t allowed to comment publicly.

Ku Maloob Zaap is one of Pemex’s most productive cluster of oil fields, accounting for over 700,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, or roughly 40% of the company’s total output, according to data from the Energy Ministry.

Production has been declining at Ku Maloob Zaap as fields mature and Pemex lacks resources to invest in new extraction technologies. Pemex has seen output fall every year for a decade and a half and has the largest debt of any oil major, at almost $114 billion.

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