The Azerbaijani authorities deny that the incident had anything to do with the offshore fields.
Baku – After the fire in the Gulf of Mexico, a fire also broke out in the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan on Sunday evening. Recordings on social networks show the huge flames that could be seen from the coast. Azerbaijan produces oil and gas in the area. According to media reports, there should have been an explosion on an offshore platform.
The Azerbaijani Ministry of Emergency Situations denies that there was an accident. This is reported by Deutsche Welle (DW). The causes of the fire are currently being investigated. No injuries have been reported so far.
Azerbaijani authorities deny connection with oil and gas production
In addition, Ibrahim Ahmedov, the deputy head of the state oil company of SOCAR, informed the Interfax news agency that “the offshore platforms and industrial plants under the direct control of SOCAR are working normally, no accident has happened there.”
The Azerbaijani news agency APA also quoted a SOCAR spokesman who said the explosion occurred about 10 kilometers from the Umid gas field. This is located 75 kilometers off the coast of the capital Baku.
Azerbaijan exports most of the gas produced to Europe or the EU. Italy, Greece and Bulgaria get it through the new Transadriatic Pipeline.
Explosion in the Caspian Sea: eruption of a mud volcano?
The explosion was caused by the eruption of a mud volcano. The Azerbaijani Republican Seismological Center announced this reason. There are said to be around 1000 mud volcanoes worldwide, the concentration in the Caspian Sea is particularly high. In addition to mud, they also spit flammable gas. It ignites when the volcano erupts through the earth’s crust.
“When an eruption occurs on land, a certain amount of fire is thrown into the air, whereupon the volcano begins to erupt with muddy lava,” Gurban Yetirmishli, director of the Republican Seismological Center, told Interfax, according to DW. A mud volcano spits fire for about 10 to 20 seconds, as Yetirmishli explains. (Tanja Koch)
Rubriclistenbild: © Gavriil Grigorov / imago-images
