Fire extinguished on platform producing 14.5 million cubic metres a day at South Pars

A fire on a platform producing 14.5 million cubic metres of natural gas a day at Iran’s South Pars gas field has been extinguished. Pars Oil and Gas Company said the fire, which broke out on the platform in Phase 14 on Tuesday, was dealt with immediately. The statement did not provide information on the impact on production or the platform’s operational status.

According to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, the output of the platform where the fire broke out accounts for part of South Pars’s total gas production, which exceeds 700 million cubic metres a day. The cause of the fire has not yet been established.

17 workers reported to be in good health

Kourosh Dehghan, Director General of Crisis Management for Bushehr Province, said in an initial statement that 17 workers had jumped into the sea to save their lives and that rescue operations were under way. Dehghan said further details about the scale of the incident and the workers’ condition would be shared later.

In a subsequent update, Bushehr’s crisis management unit said all 17 workers, who had boarded lifeboats and rescue craft, were in good health. Three heavy rescue vessels were sent to the platform to bring the workers back, it said.

Possible gas leak under investigation

According to Fars, officials are considering a gas leak and a possible operational malfunction among the potential causes of the fire. Neither possibility has yet been confirmed as the definitive cause.

The reservoir containing South Pars, described as the world’s largest offshore natural gas field, is shared by Iran and Qatar. Qatar, a major gas exporter, calls its section North Dome. The reservoir is estimated to contain 51 trillion cubic metres of recoverable gas.