Deadly Explosions Rock Russian Oilfield

Two people died and seven others were injured after explosions and a fire at an oilfield in West Siberia in Russia, the regional authorities have said.

The blasts at the Talinskoye field in the Khanty-Mansi autonomous area, also known as Yugra, are thought to be the result of overheating of nitrogen bottles, the Khanty-Mansiysk regional department of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said, as carried by Upstream.

Russia’s TASS news agency earlier reported, quoting the regional government, that

“Five people were injured and two died in an explosion at an oil field in Yugra. Those injured are being taken to a hospital in Nyagan.”

Firefighters responded to the distress call in about an hour and a half and saw that temporary dwelling units had caught fire. The fire was extinguished in about another hour, after which the rescue team found two people dead and seven others with severe injuries as a result of burns, Upstream notes.

Nezavisimaya Neftegazovaya Kompaniya, a privately held Russian oil firm, operates the oilfield via its subsidiary Nyaganneft.

The incident comes just as Russia has pledged to reduce its oil exports by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in August and by 300,000 bpd in September. The Russian announcements of export cuts followed closely Saudi Arabia’s communication that it would extend its 1-million-bpd production cut from July into August, and a month later – into September, with an option for further extensions or extension and deepening of the cut.

Russia’s crude oil and refined products exports remained steady at some 7.3 million bpd in July, while higher oil prices and narrower price differentials for Russian crude pushed Moscow’s revenues higher compared to June, according to estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Russia’s export revenues, at $15.3 billion in July, rose by $2.5 billion from June, but they were $4.1 billion lower compared to July 2022, the agency’s estimates showed.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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