Oil and Gas Accidents Articles

In the last 10 years, dozens of workers have been injured by explosions and sudden fires at refineries – from oil refineries to sugar refineries – across the United States. Three such explosions took place right here in Texas: Texas City – BP Refinery; 15 people killed Tyler – Delex U.S. Holdings; 2 people killed…

During a routine pressure test earlier this month, a 16-inch natural gas pipeline exploded, sending flames shooting up to 250 feet in the air at a West Texas Gas site. Thankfully, no one was injured. A nearby welding shop was charred and at least one onlooker noted that the burst pipeline could have easily been…

When individuals like Texas landowners go up against massive oil companies, the odds are often stacked against them from the very beginning. This week, however, one former Marine from an East Texas town north of Houston won an injunction against an oil company’s construction plans. The injunction will delay the company’s attempts to build part…

According to the Houston Chronicle, a Texas judge has ordered TransCanada to temporarily halt work on private property where it is building part of an oil pipeline designed to carry tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Texas landowner Michael Bishop filed his lawsuit in the Nacogdoches County courthouse, arguing that TransCanada lied…

Innovations in “fracking” processes have driven Texas’ ongoing oil boom. Fracking refers to methods of injecting chemical-laden water into shale deposits that lie far below ground level – this forces oil and natural gas to the surface where companies can process and sell it. While fracking has had some economic benefits for Texas and the…

While numerous hazards surround workers in the oil and gas industry, a large construction accident this week served as a reminder that the kinds of heavy machinery involved in this industry are inherently dangerous from the very beginning. Eighty-nine workers at a construction yard in Singapore suffered injuries when a jack-up rig partially collapsed underneath…

According to the Houston Chronicle, after 2 1/2 years since the deep-water Macondo well blew out in the Gulf of Mexico, oil giant BP faced a U.S. judge Tuesday as it answered to manslaughter and other criminal charges. At a brief arraignment hearing before a federal judge, BP lawyer Mark Filip said the company’s board…

The Philippines Embassy confirmed this week that another worker died as a result of last week’s explosion on a Black Elk Energy oil platform. This death brings the confirmed fatality count to two while a third worker remains missing in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. All of the workers involved in the explosion…