Dozens dead following pipeline explosion in Hidalgo State, Mexico.

Sixty six people have now been confirmed dead and another seventy six are known to have been injured, following an explosion on an oil pipeline in the town of Tlahuelilpan, in Hidalgo State, Mexico on Friday 18 January 2018. The incident was reportedly caused after thieves drilled into the pipeline in a poor neighbourhood of the city with the intention of stealing oil. This resulted in a rupture on the pipeline, which causes oil to jet into the air. Many people then rushed to the scene hoping to fill containers with some of the oil. An attempt to hold back the crowds was made by military personnel, but it soon became clear that they were badly outnumbered, and they were forced to withdraw. Some time after this the oil was somehow ignited and the area engulfed in a fireball.

The aftermath of a pipeline explosion in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, on Friday 18 January 2019. New York Times.

Thefts of oil from pipelines in Mexico have risen almost ninefold in the last decade, driven by growing economic inequality and rising fuel prices. Incoming president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who was elected in December, has promised to clamp down on these thefts, deploying military personnel to guard pipelines and shutting down some of the more vulnerable routes completely. However this policy has drawn widespread criticism as it has led to fuel shortages, which appear to have further fed demand for black-market fuel.

Relatives of missing people watching as forensic search teams sift through the aftermath of a pipeline explosion in Tlahuelilpan, Hidalgo, on Friday 18 January 2019. Reuters.

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Millitant group claims to have blown up oil pipeline in Khuzestan Province, Iran.

The Ahwaz Martyrs Brigade of Ansar al-Furqan, a militant Sunni Muslim group thought to have connections to the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda (also known as Ha’yat Tahrir al-Sham, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Jahbat Fateh al-Sham) has claimed responsibility for a pipeline explosion close to the city of Ahwaz in Khuzestan Province, Iran. The incident happened overnight between Friday 29 and Saturday 30 December 2017. Authorities in Iran are yet to comment on the incident.

Image of an alleged pipeline explosion in Khuzestan Province, Iran. AMN News.

Khuzestan Province is an oil-rich region in the south of Iran, with a large Sunni population often at odds with the nation's theocratic Shia government. The Ahwaz Martyrs Brigade of Ansar al-Furqan, a group that first appeared in 2013, is one of a number of organisations in the area campaigning against the government, which accuses Saudi Arabia of funding them (a claim denied by Saudi authorities). The group has been linked to a number of previous incidents, including suicide bombings, but has not previously been known to attack the country's oil infrastructure.

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Pipeline explosion halts flow of oil from the Es Sider Oilfield, Libya.

The flow of oil from the Es Sider Oil Field to the Mediterranean port of Hariga was halted by an explosion on the pipeline that connects the two on Tuesday 26 December 2017. The explosion occurred about 30 km to the north of the Marada Oasis in Al Wahat District, and has been claimed as an act of deliberate sabotage by the Benghazi Defense Brigades, a group, which in theory supports the current Government of National Accord in Libya, having previously fought against both the Libyan National Army and ISIS militants, but which has been accused of carrying out terrorist attacks by coalition partners. Authorities in Libya have yet to determine the actual cause of the explosion, noting that pipeline operators Waha Oil had a team carrying out maintenance in the area who have not yet been contacted, and that the explosion could have been an industrial accident.

Colomn of smoke over the scene of a pipeline explosion in Libya in Al Wahat District, Libya. The Libya Times.

Fighting between militia groups has occurred sporadically since the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, as the various groups that took part in the regime change had little in common and since then have been engaged in an uneasy truce with intervals of open conflict.

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Explosion injures worker at Collorado oil and gas well.

A worker has been injured in an explosion at a oil and gas drilling site in Weld County, Colorado, on Friday 22 December 2017. The incident happened slightly before 9.00 pm at the Extraction Oil & Gas operated plant, which is on the outskirts of the city of Windsor, triggering multiple fires which were not all extinguished until 1.00 pm the next day. The cause of the incident is still being investigated.

Fires burning at an oil drilling facility outside Windsor, Colorado, on 22 December 2017. Fox 31 Denver.

Firefighters from Windsor Severance Fire Rescue who attended the site initially had trouble controlling the fire, due to an absence of fire hydrants at the facility, which required them to divert water from a main providing domestic supplies. The fire was eventually brought under control with the aid of firefighters from several neighbouring services, using a foam extinguishing agent that covers burning material, excluding oxygen from the sites of the fire. About 7275 litres of this substance were used, which since it is diluted with water before use, would indicate the use of about 150  000 litres of water.

Column of smoke and fire over an oil drilling facility outside Windsor, Colorado, on 22 December 2017. Hyrum Griffin/The Coloradoan.

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Pipeline explosion kills at least twelve in Bayelsa State, Nigeria.

Twelve people have been confirmed dead, three more have been seriously injured and one is still missing following an explosion on an oil pipeline in Bayelsa State, Nigeria on Thursday 9 June 2015. The incident happened during repair work to the Agip-operated Tebidaba-Clough Creek Pipeline near the town of Azuzuama, and all of the dead are said to have been part of the repair crew, which included security staff and environmental observers. The work was reportedly being carried out following damage to the pipeline by oil thieves, a highly dangerous practice known locally as 'bunkering'.

Pipeline explosion in Bayelsa State. Nigerian Guardian.

Oil bunkering is a highly risky activity, the oil is highly toxic and both cutting into pipelines and the distillation process frequently result in deadly explosions, which is then refined using home-made fractionation equipment (also dangerous). In addition the authorities are prone to (often draconian) clampdowns on the activities of oil bunkerers, and are threatening to re-introduce the death penalty for those involved in the activity.

However the sale of black-market fuel provides a means of gaining hard cash in an area that has seen little benefit from the presence of the oil companies, and where the oil is often seen as a resource that should belong to the local people, not foreign oil companies or the (fairly remote) government of Nigeria. The environmental problems caused by both legal and illegal oil operations in the Delta strongly impact upon the local economy, which is based upon small scale farming and fishing, leaving many people with no legitimate source of income, which combined with a rapidly growing population and therefore increased demand for food, makes the black market oil industry more attractive than it might otherwise seem.

The Niger River has been flowing into the Bight of Benin since at least the Cretaceous. During this time it has meandered back and forth across what is now southern Nigeria, as well as moving back and forth with the rise and fall of the sea level. The river caries a great deal of sediment with it, which is dumped when it reaches the sea forming the delta. Over time the organic material within the sediment forms pockets, which are then heated and crushed by the overlying sediment (increasing pressure also increases temperature, and vice versa, which is why aerosol sprays, undergoing rapid decompression, are cold), forcing water out of more complex organic compounds (dehydration) and forming pockets of gas and oil. 

Unfortunately oil and hydrocarbons formed in this way tend to develop as a very large number of small oil fields, rather than a few large reserves which can be accessed from a limited number of large oil platforms. This has meant that as the oil industry has developed in southern Nigeria, the country has become criss-crossed by a very large number of small pipelines; such pipeline networks are expensive to maintain, and almost impossible to secure against the activities of oil-bunkerers, leading to both frequent attacks on pipelines and cases where oil companies have sought to use the thefts to justify poor maintenance of remote pipelines.

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Crude oil spill in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, blamed on poor maintenance by Shell Petroleum.

An oil spill in Bayelsa State, Nigeria, has been blamed on a poorly maintained pipeline servicing the...

Exxon Mobile facility in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria, occupied by protestors.

An ExxonMobil terminal on the Quo Iboe River in Akwa Ibom State has been occupied by protestors complaining at the oil company's failure to carry...

The ten most polluted places on Earth.

Each year since 2006 two environmental groups, the US based Blacksmith Institute andGreen Cross Switzerland have produced an annual report into some of the world's most polluted places. This year's report, titled The World's Worst 2013: The Top Ten...

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Houthi militiamen attack Aden refinery.

An oil refinery in the port of Aden in southern Yemen has come under fire by Houthi militiamen, one of a series of attacks in the south of the country on Saturday 27 June 2015. One person was reportedly killed in the attack, and at least one storage tank set on fire. The refinery was formerly capable of processing around 150 000 barrels (24 000 000 liters) of oil per day, but has been inactive since April due to repeated attacks and political instability. However a considerable amount of both oil and gas remain in storage at the site.

Firefighters trying to extinguish a blaze at a refinery in Aden, Yemen, following an attack by Houthi militias on 27 June 2015. Peninsula Qatar.

Hydrocarbons account for about 70% of Yemen's national income and 90% of exports, but the industry has been a frequent victim of the county's ongoing instability, as pipelines and facilities are an obvious target to anyone trying to gain concessions from the central government. This has led to a weakening economy and fuel shortages in the country, which has provoked further instability. 

The Houthi's are a Zaidi group that overthrow the government of  Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi in 2014, and currently control the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, claiming to be the legitimate government of Yemen. However they have never been capable of controlling the entire country, and are currently fighting a number of other groups, including militias loyal to the previous regime backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

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Natural gas pipeline blown up in North Sinai Province, Egypt.

An explosive device was used to blow up a natural gas pipeline on the outskirts of el-Arish, the provincial capital and principle port of North Sinai Province in Egypt...

Flow of oil from El Sarir Oilfield halted by attack on pipeline.

The flow of oil from the El Sarir Oilfield to the Mediterranean port of Hariga was halted by a bomb which blew up part of a pipeline several kilometers...

Major fire out of control at Libya's largest oil storage facility.

A fire is burning out of control at a fuel storage facility in Tripoli, after a tank holding 6 million liters of oil was hit by a rocket during fighting between militia groups on...

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Four confirmed fatalities following fire on Mexican oil platform.

Four people are confirmed to have died following a fire on the Abkatun Permanente Oil Platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday 1 April 2015. Between 16 and 45 further people are reported to have sustained injuries (accounts from different sources vary), with two people described as being in a serious condition. All three hundred personnel from the platform have been evacuated, and all production at the site has ceased. Three of the fatalities are understood to be employees of the Mexican state petroleum company, Pemex, who operate the platform, while the fourth has been confirmed to be an employee of oil services company Cotemar.

Fire burning on the Abkatun Permanente Oil Platform in the Campeche Sound on 1 April 2015.  Diario Campeche Hoy/AFP.

Whilst this is a serious incident, there is not thought to be any risk of an oil spill, as the Abkatun Platform is an oil processing facility, where oil from other platforms is transported for treatment through pipelines which can be cut off in the event of an incident, rather than a production platform, where there is a danger of oil continuing to escape from a damaged well-head. The platform is located in the Campeche Sound, to the north and northwest of Tabasco and Campeche States, and treats oil from the Abkatun-Pol-Chuc group of offshore oilfields. Since the platform does not directly produce any oil, Pemex are hoping to avoid a drop in production by re-routing oil through different processing facilities.

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Families evacuated after Trinidad oil leak.

Several families have been forced to evacuate their homes after an oil well in Penal on southwest Trinidad began leaking at about 11 pm local time on Saturday 26 July 2014. Resident in the area have described being woken by a loud noise that sounded like and...

Oil Spill hits Trinidad Beaches.

Beaches in South Trinidad were closed by authorities after being covered by a thick layer of crude oil on 18 December 2013. Local fishermen have also been prevented from putting to sea by the event, putting livelihoods at risk, and residents have complaine...

Burning gas rig off the coast of Louisiana.

An oil and gas rig 95 km off the coast off Louisiana which has been burning for a day has begun to collapse into the Gulf of Mexico. The Walter Oil & Gas owned Hercules 265 jack-up rig (an oil rig that...

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Three workers killed by explosion on oil rig in Upton County, Texas.

Three workers have died following an explosion at an oil rig near Rankin in Upton County, Texas, on Tuesday 10 March 2015. The men have been named as Rojelio Salgado and Arturo Martinez Senior. and Arturo Martinez Junior, who are all understood to have been members of a single family, and to have been employed by Mason Well Service Ltd to carry out work on the Parsley Energy owned well. A fourth man working at the site was initially reported to have been injure, but is now understood to be unhurt. The incident is being investigated by the Upton County Sheriff's Office and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Fire at an oil rig in Upton County, Texas, following an explosion on 10 March 2015. Everything Glubbock.

The men are descried as having been part of a 'pulling unit', a work crew charged with removing tubing or drilling equipment from inside a borehole. Such teams are typically called in when there is an obvious problem with a well, such as a visible leak or a sudden drop in pressure at the wellhead. Since explosions at oil wells are typically caused when pressure overwhelms equipment at a well, it is likely that on this occasion the removal of equipment from within the drill-bore led also to the removal of a some form of obstruction within the well, leading to a sudden release of pressure.

The approximate location of the 10 March 2015 Upton County oil well explosion. Google Maps.

The oil wells of Upton and neighbouring counties of Texas access oils from the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. These form part of the Mid-Continent Oil Producing Area, which was responsible for much of the US's oil production during the first half of the twentieth century. The Basin is now considered to be depleted, but still has known reserves of about 4 871 million barrels (774 400 000 m³) of oil, which are increasingly exploited by hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, a method which involves blasting subterranean strata with bursts of high pressure water and chemicals to break up rocks in order to free hydrocarbons, and other injection well drilling methods, techniques which involve pumping liquids into oil or gas bearing rocks to displace the hydrocarbons and make it easier to extract. These techniques have attracted criticism from many groups, as they are considered environmentally destructive, use large amounts of water and have been linked to increased seismic activities in areas where they are used.

The Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico. Wikipedia.

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Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake in Snyder County, Texas.
The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 3.1 Earthquake at a depth of 4.5 km, roughly 7 km north of the city of Snyder in Scurry...

Two killed by explosion at Texas drilling rig.
Two workers have been killed by an explosion at a drilling rig in an oilfield near Orla in Loving County, Texas, slightly before 8.00 am local time on Wednesday 30 April 2014. Nine other workers were treated for cuts and lacerations caused by flying shrapnel from the...

Cleanup operation underway in San Antonio, Texas, after fuel spill affects river.
A cleanup operation is underway in San Antonio, Texas, after aviation fuel spilled from a refinery reached a creek connected to the San Antonio River. The incident happened at the Calumet Specialty Products Partners refinery, at about 9.30 am on Saturday 12 April...


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Four injured in explosion at California gasoline refinary.

Four people were taken to hospital with minor injuries and four more were subjected to contamination procedures following an explosion at a gasoline refinary in southern California on Wednesday 18 February 2015. Three of the injured have since been released, while one has remained in hospital and is reportedly being treated for a knee injury. The incident occured at about 8.50 am local time at the ExxonMobil Torrance Refinary, about 30 km south of downtown Los Angelese, and was heard over a wide area, people close to the refinary reported ashfalls in the area and scientists at Caltech recorded the event as a Magnitude 1.7 Earthquake. A four story building on the site was reportedly shattered by the blast.

 Damage following the 18 February 2015 Torrence Refinary explosion. LA Times.

The Torrence Refinary typically processes around 150 000 barrels of crude oil per day, roughly 8.3% of the total procution for the State of California. Typically the temporary closure of such a sight would have little impact on supplies or prices, however another refinery in the north of the state, which accounts for about 9.2% of total production, is currently not opperating due to an industrial dispute, leading to fears that the price of gasoline in Califonia may rise in the near future.

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Cleanup operation underway after crude oil pipeline bursts in Los Angeles.                         A cleanup operation is under way after a pipeline carrying crude oil from Bakersfield to Texas burst in the...

Secret fracking off the coast of California.         It emerged this week that hydraulic fracturing (fracking) has been in regular use in the oil fields of the Santa Barbara Channel off the coast of California since the late 1990s. There has been a moratorium on new drill leases in the area since a spill in 1969 which...

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