An explosion at the Muscar natural gas complex operated by Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA took place on Monday injuring at least three people, according to local news outlet Efecto Cocuyo.
The causes of the incident, which took place in the state of Monagas state near the town of Punta de Mata, are still unknown, but social media was flooded by videos of large fire and thick plumes of smoke captured by local residents.
Según habitantes de la zona, se registraron al menos cinco explosiones en la plata compresora de gas #Muscar en #PuntaDeMata.
— Leonettt (@LeonettTomas) November 11, 2024
Asimismo, reportan que se está llevando a cabo un proceso de evacuación pic.twitter.com/xIryC70q2o
🚨 URGENTE 🇻🇪: Explosión en gasoducto de Muscar en Punta de Mata, Venezuela.
— SantiContreras (@SantiContreras) November 11, 2024
Una explosión en el gasoducto de Muscar en Punta de Mata, Venezuela, ha dejado múltiples heridos y desaparecidos, según reportes de usuarios en redes sociales. Las autoridades aún no confirman cifras… pic.twitter.com/pNxegECket
Following the blast, local firefighters arrived to control the blaze, and operations at the plant were halted. According to El Impulso, another local news outlet, the injured individuals were transported to nearby medical facilities, with no further updates on their conditions available yet. PDVSA has not yet issued an official statement regarding the explosion or the condition of the plant.
The Muscar plant, located between the Musipán and Carito oil fields, is a significant facility which supplies gas for reinjection into PDVSA oil fields, a process vital for maintaining pressure in oil extraction operations.
PDVSA facilities have experienced multiple incidents in recent months, highlighting ongoing concerns about safety conditions.
In 2023, after years of falling oil production and the country's economic crisis, Venezuela started to reactivate its industry producing more than twice the amount of oil per day than two years prior, according to Deputy Oil Minister Erick Pérez. However, experts and Venezuelan residents consulted by NPR in a 2023 report explained that due to the deterioration of oil facilities, ramping up output is causing more accidents. As NPR explains:
"Over the past decade, mismanagement, epic corruption scandals within PDVSA that saw billions of dollars in oil revenue go missing, and U.S. sanctions caused Venezuelan oil production to plummet. As the national economy collapsed, analysts say that PDVSA has cut back on maintenance and supervision, especially on Lake Maracaibo, where many pipelines and facilities are more than 50 years old"
A report published in early 2023 by the independent Observatory of Political Ecology of Venezuela found that there were at least 86 oil spills and natural gas leaks in Venezuela in 2022, up from 77 in 2021.
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