Offshore gas platforms in the Caspian Sea have been marked as safe, despite media coverage of a large explosion in the area, according to a news report.
Reuters said on Sunday that SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state owned energy company, confirmed its installations were safe, following accounts of a fire in the region, caused by a “mud volcano”.
Videos and photos were shared online showering a jet of fire shooting into the sky.
"The incident in the Caspian Sea is a sign of a mud volcano," Director of the Republican Seismological Service Center under ANAS Gurban Yetirmishli told APA. https://t.co/00kv7ECFJU pic.twitter.com/AP3BGVeYy1
— APA News Agency (@APA_English) July 4, 2021
According to Reuters, Russia’s RIA news agency quoted SOCAR as saying a explosion of mud was the most likely reason for the incident in the energy-rich part of the Caspian Sea.
However, it did not explain how a mud volcano, which are common in Azerbaijan, could cause a fire.
Retuers reported SOCAR spokesman, Ibrahim Akhmedov as saying: “No incidents have happened at the offshore fields and industrial structures controlled by SOCAR, work continues normally.”
Azerbaijan’s Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Committee said fire had broken out at the Umid gas field at an old exploration site, something that SOCAR denied.
In a separate report by Bloomberg, BP, which operates the country’s largest oil and natural gas projects of ACG and Shah Deniz, said its operations continue as normal and no damage was caused to its infrastructure.