An explosion and fire shut down the DCP Midstream East Texas gas processing plant north of Carthage, TX, at about 10:15 a.m. CST Wednesday. All pipelines feeding the plant have been blocked and all employees were evacuated and accounted for with no injuries, DCP said.

“We are working with emergency first responders to control the situation. The adjacent Highway 79 has been roadblocked, and the fire is diminishing,” the company said. “We are not aware of the cause or whether the explosion occurred on our facility or a third-party facility.”

DCP said it was dispatching investigators and it may take several days to determine the cause.

People living within a mile and a half of the plant were evacuated. Emergency crews from across Panola County responded.

The plant interconnects with Gulf South Pipeline, Texas Gas Transmission, CenterPoint Energy Gas Transmission, Lone Star Pipeline, Southern Natural Gas, Tejas Gas, Enterprise Products, Tennessee Gas Pipeline and Texas Eastern Transmission, according to Bentek Energy LLC.

“Average deliveries from the plant are largely to Gulf South (200 MMcf/d), Texas Gas (160 MMcf/d) and CenterPoint (100 MMcf/d) for a total average delivery of around 460 MMcf/d. DCP Midstream notified Gulf South and Texas Gas that deliveries to the plant are now shut in and will remain shut in until further notice. Expect downward pressure on Carthage prices,” Bentek said.

The DCP Midstream East Texas system is an integrated gas gathering and processing complex located primarily in Panola County and is composed of:

The East Texas facility is operated by DCP Midstream and owned 75% by DCP Midstream and 25% by DCP Midstream Partners.

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