Mexico oil company Pemex blast caused by methane gas

[Anthea]

Oil Voice

A gas build-up under a building at the offices of state oil monopoly Pemex in Mexico City caused a blast that killed at least 37 people, the attorney-general said Monday, ending days of near-total silence by authorities about the petroleum giant's worst disaster in more than a decade.

Attorney General Jesus Murillo said no trace of explosives was found at the site of the explosion, the latest in a string of disasters to hit the lumbering oil giant.

"We have been able to determine that the explosion was caused by an accumulation of gas in the basement of the building," Murillo told a news conference in Mexico City.

He said officials had yet to discover the source of the methane gas that leaked from a duct or tunnel or came from the sewer system and built up in the basement of the building.

The blast generated debate about the state of Pemex, a vital source of government revenue that is suffering from decades of underinvestment and has been hit by a recent series of accidents that have tarnished its otherwise improving safety record.

http://www.oilvoice.com/n/Pemex_blast_c ... e99c5.aspx