Mexico finds possible remains, restores some oil production

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s state-owned oil company said Tuesday the possible remains of two missing subcontractors had been found on one of its oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico following a weekend fire.

Petroleos Mexicanos said it had restored about 17% of the lost production caused by the fire at the platform. The company, known as Pemex, said that by Aug. 30 it hoped to restore all of the 421,000 barrels per day in production knocked out by the blaze.

The platform caught fire after a gas leak during maintenance Sunday, killing five workers and leaving two others missing. Forensic tests were being carried out on the possible remains to see if they belonged to the missing workers.

Pemex Director Octavio Romero said the apparent remains were found in a control room on the platform where temperatures reached around 1,800 degrees (1,000 degrees Celsius). Such heat would have burned the bodies beyond recognition.

The fire at the processing platform in the Ku-Maloob-Zaap field caused the shutdown of 125 wells in the field. That knocked out production equivalent to about one-quarter of Mexico’s daily output of almost 1.7 million barrels per day.

The platform is used to compress gas to re-inject it into wells to stimulate oil pumping and to supply electricity to wells.

Romero said 25 wells that produce about 71,000 barrels per day had already been brought back on line and that an additional 29 producing 110,000 barrels should be back up within 36 hours.

Romero said some of the workers killed were carrying out routine maintenance and cleaning of gas lines on the platform. The maintenance work was being carried out by subcontractors from two firms.

Six workers were injured in the blaze, and one was in serious condition.

Romero said Monday investigations are continuing...