Mexico: 2 Workers Dead, 10 Hurt in Mexico Oil Rig Accident

An accident on an oil well-maintenance platform killed two workers and injured 10 off Mexico’s coast on Tuesday, company officials reported, blaming the incident on the collapse of one of the rig’s legs.

State oil company Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said the Troll Solution rig was maneuvering to perform offshore maintenance at the time of the accident in the Bay of Campeche, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Pemex blamed a structural failure in the leg. The rig was “listing” but had not sunk, the company said via Twitter.

Pemex said in a statement that the platform belongs to oil services provider Typhoon Offshore. Ninety-eight of that company’s workers and three Pemex employees were removed from the rig and taken for medical evaluation.

Mexican conglomerate Grupo Salinas, the parent company of Typhoon Offshore, said 10 workers were injured and had been treated.

“The platform has all the safety mechanisms necessary for an infrastructure of this magnitude,” Grupo Salinas said in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite safety measures, accidents happen.”

Company spokesman Luciano Pascoe said there had been no spill associated with the incident, and the well was closed off.
Federal prosecutors announced an investigation, and company officials promised to cooperate.

Pemex said production was not affected.

Later PEMEX updated the situation to reporters –

Mexican oil company Pemex said an accident on Tuesday has left an offshore maintenance rig in the southern Bay of Campeche listing, killing two workers, but has not affected crude production.

Pemex said the Troll Solution rig, which was contracted to operate in Pemex’s Abkatun-Pol-Chuc shallow water oil field, was positioning itself to carry out maintenance on wells linked to the Caan Alf platform.
It earlier reported that two workers had suffered minor injuries.

“The accident on the Troll Solution platform does not affect production because it is a mobile platform dedicated to well maintenance,” Pemex said in a Tweet.

Oilfield services firm Typhoon Offshore, owned by Mexican conglomerate Grupo Salinas and operator of the platform, said in a statement that the platform had been completely evacuated and that 10 workers were injured and receiving medical care.
Local media put the injured toll at 28 workers.

A Grupo Salinas spokesperson added that there was no oil or gas spilled as a nearby well was closed prior to the incident.
Photos circulated on social media showed dark streaks in the water stretching a few hundred meters (yards) from what appeared to be the platform, which was tilting steeply.

A Pemex spokesman also said there had been no crude spill but added that the platform probably contained diesel. “That could have fallen into the water,” he added.

The Caan field where the accident occurred produced nearly 12,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude in March, according to Pemex data. That in turn is part of the Abkatun-Pol-Chuc area, which produced almost 309,000 bpd in March.
Pemex said the platform was continuing to lean into the sea, but another spokesman for the company added that the accident had not “compromised” any wells.

The incident was the second platform mishap in barely a month to hit the Mexican oil giant, which made a loss of more than $6 billion in the first quarter of 2015.

On April 1, at least four people died at a fire in a separate platform in the Abkatun Pol Chuc complex, which temporarily dented production in the area.

Around 70 percent of Pemex’s crude oil output comes from the southern Gulf of Mexico.

Pemex said around 100 workers were evacuated