About 240-250 MMcf/d of gas is shut in due to a explosion and compressor fire that occurred late Tuesday on a platform at High Island 264 in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), according to platform owner Enterprise Products Partners LP.

The U.S. Coast Guard responded to a compressor fire aboard the platform about 90 miles southeast of Galveston, TX, shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday. When the Cutter Manta arrived about 3 a.m. Wednesday the fire had been extinguished and there were no injuries, it said Wednesday. However, the High Island Offshore System (HIOS) was temporarily shut.

A flyover Wednesday morning reported a light sheen around the plant but no extensive pollution, the Coast Guard said. All 39 crew members aboard the plant were evacuated safely by the offshore supply vessel Gulf Endeavor, which was tied up at a platform nearby.

The affected facility is Platform B at High Island 264, Enterprise spokesman Rick Rainey told NGI. Enterprise said its 42-inch diameter HIOS was temporarily shut Wednesday. Capacity on the 291-mile HIOS is 1.8 Bcf/d. HIOS transports gas from fields in the western GOM to pipelines off the coast of Louisiana, including ANR and Tennessee Gas Pipeline.

The crew’s living quarters on Platform B were not affected by the fire, and Enterprise is working to determine when it might be able to return and resume operations. Platform A was not affected and is operating normally, Rainey said.

“It was quite the haul out there [to the platform],” said Coast Guard Petty Officer Prentice Danner. “The fire was out when the cutter got there. [The flyover] confirmed the fire was out and reported a slight sheen, but it’s something that would disperse naturally.”

After the plant is deemed safe for reboarding, the Coast Guard will investigate the cause of the fire and explosion, it said.

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