Major oil field on fire in Iran

Major oil field on fire in Iran

rt.com

A massive fire has broken out at Marun, Iran’s second largest oil field, situated in the country’s southwest. Despite all efforts, emergency workers are unable to contain the fire.

An underground explosion that occurred three days ago led to the fire outbreak.

But the main goal of nearly a thousand emergency workers deployed in the area at the moment is not to allow the oil to leak into the nearby Jarahi River, which is a major source of drinking water, supplying three towns in the region.

(visit the link for the full news article)

I just found this not too long ago and I havent been able to find any other sources, such as yahoo, or abc or any of those news agencies yet.

The oil field is the 2nd largest in Iran. From what Ive seen lately, Iran seems to have really bad luck. From the protests recently and now a major oil field on fire, I just wonder what is going to happen next.

Also about the underground explosion, I am unable to figure out yet if it was a bomb or just a natural occurance from drilling or and earthquake. I guess time will tell.

rt.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by buni11687


Interesting,with all thats going on in Iran at the moment it would not surprise me to find out this was done on purpose by some group.
Sounds like it has the potential to become a real disaster,with the threat of water tables being contaminated.

This article suggests there may be a link to the Iranian incursion into the Iraqi oil field a week or two back:

The Maroon field is one of the largest in Iran with 500,000 barrels a day. The incident - which was not blamed on sabotage - comes amid growing concern about the region after Iran was accused of occupying an oil well that Iraq says it owns. Iran has denied the accusation.

www.nasdaq.com... west-field

How is this going to affect oil prices, if at all?

[edit on 3-1-2010 by Kaytagg]

reply to post by Kaytagg


That is a good question. I am not really sure how this will affect them. Im going to keep an eye on the gas prices around my town for the next week or so to see how they change.

reply to post by Kaytagg


Oh you can bet that the oil companies have worked out how to make a buck or10billion from this event.
Never let a crisis go to waste as they say.

What's the carbon footprint on this??

Just curious.

reply to post by buni11687


Blowouts are not as uncommon as you think... all it takes is one little spark and "KABOOM"... They would have to call in a snubbing unit to put it out and with all the trouble they have over there I'm not sure if the normal companies who specialize in rig fires are willing to take that job?

Here a look at how terrifying a rig fire can be


[edit on 3-1-2010 by DaddyBare]

Hmmmm Underground explosion? Iran oil fields? USA testing out a penetrator bomb as a little bit of a demonstration?

No that wouldn't happen would it? - (mind you if Iran even suspected wouldn't they be shouting about it already?)

Having been a petroleum engineer for over 30 years I really don't understand how thay could have had an underground explosion unless they were air drilling ie no oxygen no fire/no explosion. As far as a blowout being a "common occurence", no it's not. Loss of control is very unusual and nearly is always the result of incompetence of personel, poor design or equipment failure. If it's a common occurence then I'm not getting paid enough, since I've probably drilled over 1000 wells in the last 30 years & I've never had a "tourist attraction".

S+F for posting something factual.

reply to post by billyjack


Air drilling.. Why would they be doing that?

Does it have something to do with the well running out of easily accessible oil?

Possibly in retaliation for the seizure of the Iraqi oil field a few weeks ago?

I'm questioning the accuracy of the report though since there were an awful
lot of cameras filming the protests in Iran in the last few days. Odd that nobody would notice, film, or report on an explosion and fire breaking out in their 2nd largest oil field.

Now, if I want to go full force with the conspiracy theory, I would say we were being trained to watch the protests while "someone" else went and bombed their oil field. I should think the loss in revenue and / or possibility of a shortage of drinking water would make the Iranians more willing to agree to a UN-brokered nuclear deal. Just a thought. Especially if their citizens are crying out for aid and conveniently, we're the ones that have it.

Originally posted by billyjack
Having been a petroleum engineer for over 30 years I really don't understand how thay could have had an underground explosion unless they were air drilling ie no oxygen no fire/no explosion. As far as a blowout being a "common occurence", no it's not. Loss of control is very unusual and nearly is always the result of incompetence of personel, poor design or equipment failure. If it's a common occurence then I'm not getting paid enough, since I've probably drilled over 1000 wells in the last 30 years & I've never had a "tourist attraction".

Thanks for your knowledgeable input.

From what I've been told Iran has not properly maintained their oil producing infrastructure. And then there are problems with obtaining parts with sanctions in place.

And then there's a possibility of sabotage. Let us know any thoughts you have as this story develops.


Mike