Fire on Pemex Oil Rig Kills Contractor, Injures 16 in Gulf of Mexico
CAMPECHE, Mexico, April 1 (UPI) — One worker died and 16 were injured after a fire broke out early Wednesday on the Abkatun Standing oil platform operated by Mexican state-owned company Pemex.
About 300 workers were evacuated from the Petróleos Mexicanos oil platform, located in the Bay of Campeche in the Gulf of Mexico. The deceased was a contractor for the Cotemar company. Pemex released a statement.
Two of the injured are in serious condition at the Pemex General Hospital and the Mexican Social Security Institute. Eight firefighting boats were deployed to combat the fire.
In February, Pemex announced it would stop shipping finished oil through its pipelines in an effort to combat oil theft.
The company’s switch to transporting unfinished oil was announced after Pemex declared it lost $1.14 billion to theft and distribution to black markets in 2014, a 70 percent increase from the previous year.
