The blast was caused by a gas leak on board the Cidade de São Mateus, a floating oil production, storage and offloading ship (FPSO), said Davidson Lomba, finance director of Sindepetro-ES, the union representing workers on the platform.
The ensuing fire was quickly contained, the vessel stabilized, and oil and gas output halted, ANP said in a statement, adding that no oil leaked into the ocean.
The FPSO, owned by Norway-listed ship leaser BW Offshore Ltd , also processes natural gas that is sent to shore by undersea pipeline. The platform produces about 2.25 million cubic meters (88.3 million cubic feet) a day of natural gas and 350 cubic meters (2,200 barrels) a day of oil, according to ANP.
While the platform accounts for less than 3 percent of gas production at Petrobras, and less than 1 percent of oil output, it comes as the company struggles through its worst crisis in history.
Security concerns had been mounting at Petrobras before the accident. Last month, three workers were seriously burned in a refinery explosion, one of several that has beset the company in the last two years.
Was this one of the facilities that the President used U.S. taxpayer money to fund, rather than agree to the Keystone Pipeline? Either way, the “O” will blame someone else for the disaster.
How’s PBR compared to Pemex, corruption- and incompetence-wise? On its face, you’d think less, given the PBR is doing much more complicated projects. The problem, of course, is that the current Brazilian government seems to have no respect for property rights.
Aw, I had thought that a government-run monopoly was BEYOND corruption and financial manipulation - wasn’t that reason these state-run enterprises are formed in the first place. And now pile safety issues on top? If it is a state-run enterprise, there should be no NEED for a separate occupational safety and hazardous control agency, it was all built into the structure of the monopoly.
(Do I HAVE to include the < /sarcasm > tag EVERY time?)