Gas Plant Fire Halts US Gulf Coast Platforms

At least two offshore oil platforms halted operations on Tuesday in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico after a fire at a natural gas processing plant in Mississippi shut a crucial pipeline that brings output onshore, several companies said.

 

The fire at Enterprise Products Partners plant in Pascagoula was brought under control, but officials were still forced to close the 225-mile Destin gas pipeline system that can carry 1.2 billion cubic feet per day from offshore fields to Pascagoula.

 

Destin, majority-owned by BP with Enbridge Inc a minority partner, said it was declaring force majeure, a legal clause that allows it to scrap commitments, as a result of the fire.

 

Offshore company LLOG said it was in the process of shutting its Delta House floating production system in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, a spokesman said.

 

Murphy Oil Corp said its Thunder Hawk platform was shut in after the fire.

 

Murphy added it plans to flow natural gas to an alternate processing facility and expects minimal disruptions to its operations.

 

Several social media messages from Pascagoula residents had said the blaze erupted shortly before midnight at Chevron Corp's 330,000 barrels per day refinery in Pascagoula. The Pascagoula Police Department said the fire was not at the Chevron refinery.

 

There were no injuries from the blaze, Enterprise said. The cause was under investigation. Enterprise took ownership of the plant from BP Plc on June 1.


(By Catherine Ngai and Liz Hampton; Additional reporting By Erwin Seba, Jessica Resnick-Ault and Jarrett Renshaw; Writing by Terry Wade; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)