An explosion at an offshore natural gas pipeline in Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish has killed a man, the local police reported, adding fire was still burning at the site.
The explosion was reported to the Plaquemines Parish police on Saturday evening with one person reported missing at the site.
“For reasons still under investigation, an explosion and fire occurred while Nichols was believed to be working on the pipeline,” the police said in a Facebook post. “Nichols died as a result, and with the assistance of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office, his body was recovered in the area of the incident. No other individuals were injured.”
“The pipelines have been blocked, and one remains on fire, burning the remaining natural gas in the line. Air monitor readings were conducted, and there is no threat to the public. This incident remains under investigation,” the authorities also said.
Plaquemines Parish is the home of Plaquemines LNG, a project of Venture Global, which is currently building another LNG facility in the area, Calcasieu Pass LNG, which will have an annual capacity of 10 million tons of liquefied gas. Plaquemines LNG will have an annual capacity of up to 20 million tons, per plans.
The project received its final investment decision in 2022 and in July this year the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave Venture Global the go-ahead to start feeding gas into the system. The first phase of Plaquemines LNG will have a capacity of 13.3 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually.
Buyers of the gas include Poland’s state energy company Orlen, China’s Sinopec and CNOOC, as well as Shell and French EDF. Venture Global has also secured buyers for the second phase of the project, including Exxon, Chevron, Germany’s EnBW, Malaysia’s Petronas, and China Gas.
Shipments of gas from the Plaquemines LNG facility were scheduled to start in the middle of 2024.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
