A gas leak in an undersea pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico sparked a sea surface fire on Friday, and images of the flames went viral on social media.
The blaze took more than five hours to go out, according to Pemex, and there were no injuries.
Bright flames leaping from the water looked like molten lava and were nicknamed “the eye of fire” on social media due to the circular shape of the fire, which spread a short distance from a Pemex oil rig.
According to sources told the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, this platform, Ku Maloob Zap, is the most important in the company. It is responsible for more than 40% of the 1.7 million barrels produced daily.
Mexico’s Oil Safety Regulatory Agency chief Angel Carrizales wrote on Twitter that the incident did not lead to an oil spill at sea, but did not explain what was burning on the surface some water.
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