EOG Resources Inc. said a flash fire in one of its natural gas storage tanks in western Wyoming during maintenance operations on Tuesday afternoon has resulted in the death of one worker and injuries to three others. The incident, first reported as an explosion, occurred in a desert region about 30 miles northwest of Green River, WY.

One gas well was shut in as a result, which was the only impact on natural gas processing and other operations in the area, a spokesperson told NGI on Wednesday.

A maintenance crew was cleaning the tank when the incident occurred, according to a Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson. Three of the four people injured were taken to the University of Utah Medical Center Burn Center in Salt Lake City. The fourth person was treated locally at an outpatient clinic and released.

One person, a contract employee, died Tuesday night. The other two people, both EOG employees, were continuing to be treated Wednesday, a medical center spokesperson said.

The fire was extinguished by local firefighters, and the cause of the incident was being investigated. According to reports, the fire occurred around 2 p.m. at the company’s gas storage tank south of La Barge, WY.

A Tulsa-based spokesperson with Williams Partners LP, which has substantial pipeline and gas processing facilities in the area, told NGI that the company’s Wyoming operations have been unaffected by the EOG tank incident.

Earlier this year, in the area around Opal, WY, gas hub, an explosion and fire knocked out a Williams processing plant, causing the re-routing of nearly 1 Bcf/d of natural gas flowing from the large concentration of gas production wells in the Jonah/Pinedale and Greater Green River basins (see Daily GPI, April 24).