In just one day, massive fires broke out at three different facilities in Mexico and one in the United States that are controlled by the state-owned Mexican oil company, Pemex.
On Thursday, three separate fires broke out at Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) facilities, resulting in two workers’ death, at least eight people were injured, and several others missing, Bloomberg reported.
This resulted in increased scrutiny of the safety record of the Mexican state oil firm in advance of its earnings call on Monday.
The fires broke out at the Pemex crude oil storage facility in Veracruz, Mexico, in Maya unit (285,000-barrel-a-day) Minatitlan refinery in Veracruz, and in Deer Creek, Texas.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, president of Mexico, said at a press conference on Friday morning that the fire at the Minatitlan refinery was immediately brought under control, but that the fire at the Ixhuatlan storage facility has not yet been extinguished. He said, “in the case of Ixhuatlan, it will take more time because it occurred at an oil deposit.”
WATCH:
#Russia: A huge Blaze with black smoke clouds at Mexico's largest Oil storage facility in city #Veracruz.
A fire in a pipeline at the facilities of the state-owned oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (#Pemex) was reported today by the Civil Protection Secretariat of Veracruz, Mexico. pic.twitter.com/D7XJ9l7rsC— Khurram Zubair (@Khurram__z) February 24, 2023
Three fires broke out on Thursday at different facilities in Mexico and the United States operated by state-owned Mexican oil company Pemex.
Five missing, eight injured.pic.twitter.com/GR1AudZ3bz
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) February 24, 2023
UPDATE: Multiple fires ROCK state owned Mexican oil refineries in 3 separate locations… pic.twitter.com/BXYoHHgczO
— The American Tribune (@TAmTrib) February 24, 2023
Así se ven los 9 mil mdp que se destinaron para @Pemex Veracruz en el Presupuesto de Egresos de este año… seguimos esperando un informe oficial de los accidentes del día de ayer en Minatitlán e Ixhuatlán del Sureste.
¡Las familias de los trabajadores merecen respuestas! pic.twitter.com/rOIk9uSbqO— Indira Rosales (@Indira_rs) February 24, 2023
Below are the statements released by the company regarding the three separate incidents in one day.
PEMEX extinguishes fire in Cavity Tuzandepetl-331 in Veracruz:
Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) reports regarding the fire that broke out yesterday in the PM-119 drilling rig that provided maintenance to Cavity Tuzandepetl-331, in the municipality of Ixhuatlán del Sureste, Veracruz:
In the search activities for missing personnel, two bodies were found, which are being reviewed by the Forensic Medical Service, with prior authorization from the Federal Public Ministry.
Work continues to locate the three missing workers.
The two workers who remain hospitalized are stable and treated at the PEMEX Hospital.
PEMEX regrets the human losses, as well as the injuries that affected the health of the workers, and reiterates its commitment to their families.
Actions continue to be carried out to determine the causes that caused the fire in the drilling equipment and the cleaning of the place will begin.
PEMEX controls fire at the Maya Combined plant of the Minatitlán Refinery:
There is a record of five injured people who are treated by the medical services of this institution
There was no interruption in the operation of the plant and there is no record of damage to the facilities
Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) extinguished a fire in the area of the bank of heat exchangers of the Combined Maya plant of the Minatitlán Refinery, thanks to operating and fire-fighting personnel who managed to control the outbreak.
Due to this event, there is a record of five injured people who are treated by PEMEX medical services. Likewise, it is reported that there was no interruption in the operation of the plant and there is no record of damage to the refinery facilities.
It is presumed that the possible cause of the fire was the spillage of the product on a hot surface.
PEMEX reiterates its commitment to the safety of the workers that are part of this institution and carries out the root cause analysis of this incident.
On Saturday, PEMEX Director General Eng. Octavio Romero supervised the assessment and cleanup of the damaged Cavity Tuzandepetl-331 in the town of Ixhuatlán del Sureste, Veracruz.
El Director General de #PEMEX, Ing. @OctavioRomero_O visitó la zona siniestrada de la Cavidad Tuzandepetl-331, en el municipio de Ixhuatlán del Sureste, Veracruz para supervisar las labores de evaluación de daños y limpieza del lugar. pic.twitter.com/CRlmIyKGpK
— Petróleos Mexicanos (@Pemex) February 25, 2023
NO coincidence that 3 happened in 1 day, all part of the plan to destroy USA
It’s Wierd that the 1st Tweet showed by Khurram Zubair had #Russia as its 1st word before describing the incidents. Are they going to blame Russia for these acts for a cover up, like they always do?
These were Sure not a coincidence!