Mexico says oil spill avoided after deadly offshore blaze

MEXICO CITY – A huge blaze twisted and blackened an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, but the state-run Pemex oil company said it managed to avert any significant oil spill.

At least four workers died and two suffered life-threatening injuries in an explosion that engulfed the platform in flames Wednesday, forcing 300 people to abandon the facility.

Officials said environmental damage was avoided because the fire happened on a processing platform where the feeder lines could be turned off, rather than at an active oil well with a virtually unlimited amount of fuel flowing up from the seabed.

In a statement Wednesday night, Pemex said the accident “did not cause an oil spill into the sea, given that there was only a seepage, which is being taken care of by specialized vessels.” It suggested the oil remaining in the pipelines was burning off.

The company’s official Twitter account announced late Wednesday that fire had been extinguished after hours of being showered with water sprayed from 10 firefighting and emergency boats.

Pemex Director General Emilio Lozoya said the accident “would have a minimal impact on production, because this was a processing platform,” not a producing well. Production from nearby wells it normally serves could be rerouted to other processing platforms.

Lozoya said the explosion appeared to have been set off by some kind of mechanical problem but the precise cause was still under investigation.

Pemex said a total of 45 workers received medical treatment or evaluation.