Three crew members working on an oil rig in Mountrail County North Dakota were injured on Friday, September 3, 2022. Late on Friday evening, a highland oil drilling rig experienced a large and catastrophic explosion. Reports state that residents of the nearby town of Ross, North Dakota witnessed the explosion from miles away.
Three workers employed by Black Hawk Energy Services, a subsidiary of Steel Energy, are reported to have been taken to a burn unit in St. Paul Minnesota with injuries due to the explosion. Mountrail County Sheriff Corey Bristol said the oil well site is owned by Chord Energy. At this time no comments have been made by the local authorities as to the cause of the explosion.
Currently, there is an open investigation into the cause of the explosion and fire being conducted by OSHA, as well as state and federal regulatory authorities. At this time, the company has not released any comments as to the cause of the fire or the condition of Black Hawk’s employees. A spokesman for Chord Energy released the following statement “The primary focus of the parties at this stage is caring for the welfare of the injured, working with the relevant entities to investigate the incident and ongoing assessment of damages at the facility”
If you or someone you know has suffered injuries or the loss of a family member due to a workplace injury, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz, & Stogner by calling 713-222-7211 or toll-free at 1-800-594-4884.