Pemex’s Deer Park oil refinery scales back operations after fatal accident

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican national oil company Pemex’s Deer Park oil refinery near Houston will operate this weekend at a low level following a deadly chemical leak a couple days ago, the company said in a statement late on Friday.

The state-owned oil company added that it continues to investigate the cause of last Thursday’s hydrogen sulfide gas leak that killed two contract workers while injuring 35 others during work on a unit at the 312,500-barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery.

On Friday, Pemex’s chief executive said that thirteen workers remained hospitalized after being exposed to the leak, while Mexico’s energy minister said she expected the facility to be back to normal operations later on 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 kept in place during the weekend as long as it’s possible to have access to the areas to carry out the corresponding inspections,” the company said in its Friday night statement.

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB), which investigates industrial accidents and makes recommendations to prevent future incidents, also has begun a probe of what it described as a “very serious incident.”