By David Alire García and Erwin Seba
MEXICO CITY/HOUSTON (Reuters) – Pemex's Deer Park oil refinery near Houston released 43,500 pounds of highly toxic hydrogen sulfide gas over more than seven hours in a deadly incident earlier this week, according to the Mexican state company's disclosure to a Texas regulator. .
Thursday's accident killed two contract workers and injured 35 others during work in a unit at the refinery.
According to Pemex's initial report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the October 10 leak continued for 7 hours and 40 minutes. Over the course of the incident, the hydrogen sulfide discharge exceeded more than 800 times the hourly emission limit for the hazardous gas of 6.89 pounds per hour.
The data from the Texas regulator is dated October 11.
The refinery, which has a crude processing capacity of 312,500 barrels per day, will operate this weekend at a “low level” while Pemex investigates the cause of the leak, the company said late Friday in a statement.
Houston-based Buzbee Law Firm said it had been retained by “several families affected by this horrific incident.”
Pemex management has operated the facility for almost three years.
According to people familiar with the matter, work was underway at a sulfur recovery unit at the time of the fatal discharge.
The Deer Park refinery is a major supplier of motor fuels to Mexico, where the government has sought to reduce reliance on gasoline and diesel imports from non-Pemex refineries in an effort to become more energy self-sufficient.
Newly appointed Pemex CEO Víctor Rodríguez told reporters Friday morning that thirteen workers remained hospitalized after being exposed to the leak, while Mexico's energy secretary said at the same briefing that she expected The facility was expected to return to normal operations later Friday.
But the company walked back that expectation with its latest statement.
“The refinery continues to operate in stable conditions at a low level, a level that will be maintained throughout the weekend as long as it is possible to have access to the areas to carry out the corresponding inspections,” the company said in its statement on Friday. night declaration
Rodríguez, who took office earlier this month, said Friday that three or four units had been shut down at the refinery after the leak.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), which investigates industrial accidents and makes recommendations to prevent future incidents, has also launched an investigation into what it described as a “very serious incident.”
The CSB said late Friday that its investigators should arrive at the refinery on Saturday.
For decades, Deer Park was operated by oil major Shell (LON:), but Pemex took full ownership of the refinery in early 2022, acquiring Shell's 50% stake in what had been a long-standing joint venture. .
In 2021, Shell revealed that it sold its stake in Deer Park to Pemex for about $596 million.
Pemex's national refineries have suffered major accidents for years, including explosions and fires, which have caused deaths in Mexico.
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