Ruptured natural gas pipeline explodes in Texas

Jul 10, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – A ruptured natural gas pipeline reportedly led to an explosion at Fort Bend County, Texas in the United States on Thursday, mere days after a similar incident took place at a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant on Texas’ Quintana Island.

A screenshot taken of the explosion at the gas pipeline in Fort Bend County, Texas

Fox News reported that according to the Fort Bend County Pct. 1 Constable’s Office, the explosion occurred before 11 am in the 15400 block of JoAnn near FM 1952, west of Orchard.

No injuries were reported as a result of the explosion but neighbouring residents were evacuated as a precautionary measure. Another news outlet said that the explosion of the 24 inches gas pipeline caused minor grass fires in the area.

Meanwhile, Energy Transfer, the company that owns the pipeline, said the explosion happened in an isolated field and the control centre immediately secured the area.

The company later issued a statement explaining that the fire had safely burn itself out and an investigation will be launched.

“There was an incident today in Fort Bend County on the Old Ocean Pipeline at approximately 11:15 am. Our control centre immediately shut in the line and the area was secured. There were no injuries. By shutting in the line and isolating the impacted section of the pipeline line, the fire was allowed to safely burn itself out by 12:30 pm. All appropriate regulatory agencies have been notified. We will continue to provide updates as information becomes available. There will be an investigation into the cause of the incident. We will not have any information on that until the investigation is complete.”

On June 8, last, an NGL facility burst into flames, leaving residents rattled over the possible negative impacts they can be exposed to. No injuries were reported at the Freeport terminal, however, while authorities have said that the fire and “release” from the explosion were swiftly contained, residents who live near the facility fear they will be kept in the dark.

The natural gas explosions come at a time when Guyana is rushing to setup its own LNG plant at Wales, West Bank Demerara in partnership with oil giant, ExxonMobil. An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project has already been submitted to the local authorising body, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Notably, this document has said that Guyana will not be immune to gas explosions at the site, listing the activity as a likely event.
But even though US$1.3 billion will be expended to merely set up the onshore and offshore pipeline works for the facility, along with other ancillary works, Guyana has no insurance from the developer, should such an event occur. In fact, Exxon has not even submitted a Gas Leak Management Plan to the EPA for considerations to be made in the permitting process. Instead, Exxon has promised to have the document ready about a year before the plant starts its operations at Wales. In addition, the Gas-to-Energy Project Manager, Mr. Friedrich Krispin has indicated that Exxon and its partners will not walk away from any accidents, but will help Guyana should an unfortunate event take place at the proposed facility.
According to him, “Responsibility is something that lawyers tell us not to talk about…because there are a lot of interesting legal ramifications with responsibility but the one thing I can tell you is; I can say from 35 years of experience and I can say from knowing the history of 140 years of this corporation we don’t walk away from incidents, issues, accidents, etcetera, we make sure that we take care of things, we make sure that we clean up where we left, we make sure that we clean-up the environment if there is an incident and we make sure that things are left very much like we found them.”
When he was pressed further to say when a document would be signed, specifically to secure an insurance policy to cover any mishaps, Krispin said he could not respond. “Unfortunately I can’t speak to that; it is something the legal department is working through. They have commitments with the government of Guyana and I have read some of the stuff but I can’t speak on their behalf but I am sure that they are always gonna do the right thing,” he shared.
ExxonMobil can reclaim all costs expended on this venture from Guyana’s oil revenue, in keeping with the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA). This means that Guyana will be paying for the project, even though the returns are not definitive. Government hopes to generate some 300 megawatts of power through this venture.