The planned restart on Monday of a damaged Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. (Transco) natural gas compression station in Gibson, LA, is being delayed following an explosion and fire that killed three people and injured two others seriously Thursday morning.
Injured
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One Killed, Three Injured by Explosion on GOM Platform
One person was killed and three others injured Thursday afternoon during a cleaning operation on an oil and gas platform 12 miles off the coast of New Orleans.
Industry Brief
The Missouri Public Service Commission continues to investigate a natural gas explosion in Kansas City, MO, on Feb. 19, which killed at least one person and injured more than a dozen others (see Daily GPI, Feb. 22). According to Kansas City Manager Troy Schulte, Heartland Midwest LLC did not have a permit to drill and excavate near the site. A Heartland crew contracted by Time Warner Cable Inc. was installing a fiber optic cable when it apparently punctured a two-inch diameter natural gas pipeline operated by Missouri Gas Energy.
Natural Gas Explosion Damages Kansas City Shopping District
More than a dozen people were injured, at least two critically, and a young woman’s body had been recovered after an apparent natural gas leak triggered a huge explosion and four-alarm fire just after 6 p.m. Tuesday in an upscale Kansas City, MO, shopping district.
Industry Briefs
An explosion in Mexico City on Thursday at Mexico’s state-owned Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, which killed at least 33 and injured 121 or more, may have been caused by an accident, authorities said. According to reports, the explosion occurred in the basement of the B2 Building, a seven-story structure that serves as an annex adjacent to Pemex’s executive tower. The blast destroyed most of the annex’s first and second floors but the building had not collapsed. Pemex reportedly said the explosion may have been caused by an electrical failure or a problem with a natural gas line.
Industry Brief
An investigation has been launched after an accident at an Encana Corp. natural gas drilling site in Colorado killed one person and injured three others. According to law enforcement officials, a high-pressure gas release occurred when four contractors with BGH Gas Test Operating Inc. of Castle Rock, CO, were ramping up production at the well, which is in the Niobrara formation. No explosion or fire occurred at the drilling site, which is near the town of Platteville, about 30 miles north of Denver. Encana has launched an internal investigation; state officials also are conducting an investigation.
Wyoming Wild Well Under Control
Well control experts succeeded in plugging a runaway Chesapeake Energy Corp. oil well that had been spewing natural gas and drilling mud since last Tuesday near the town of Douglas, WY, in part of the Niobrara Shale formation in Converse County. Workers managed to reduce the pressure and regain control by plugging the well with mud.
Industry Brief
Plains All American Pipeline LP’s Plains Gas Solutions experienced a fire Saturday at its Basile gas processing facility near Eunice, LA. One employee was injured and is in stable condition at an area hospital. The cause, extent of the damage and time required to repair the facility are not yet known. The Basile Plant is a 150 MMcf/d cryogenic processing facility. Neither the operation of the Basile Plant nor the fire have any impact on the operations at PAA Natural Gas Storage’s Pine Prairie facility, located nearby, Plains said. Additionally, there is no impact to area gas producers, third-party gas processing facilities or natural gas pipelines.
Inquiries, Nimby-ism Follow Deadly Plant Blast
An explosion Feb. 7 at a natural gas-fired power plant under construction in Middletown, CT, which killed five workers and injured more than a dozen, has drawn attention to gas pipeline practices and prompted one lawmaker to lash out at a proposed pipeline that would run through New Jersey.
No Injuries from Monday Morning Flare at Texas Plant
No one was injured by an unintended gas flare at Exelon Corp.’s Handley power plant in Fort Worth at about 7:30 a.m. Monday. A flame more than 100 feet high erupted when a safety relief valve was opened on a 24-inch diameter gas line and a spark ignited the gas.