The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic issued a statement, saying operations on its offshore gas platforms are safe and “without incident” in response to reports and videos appearing to show an explosion and fire in the Caspian Sea.
“No incidents have happened at the offshore fields and industrial structures controlled by SOCAR, work continues normally,” a SOCAR spokesman said, according to Reuters.
Gurban Yetirmishli, director of Azerbaijan’s seismological agency, further clarified: “No accidents occurred on the oil platforms or ships. This is a sign of a mud volcano. There are many mud volcanoes in the Caspian Sea, one of which erupted,” BNO News reported.
Videos showing what appeared to be a large spire of fire over the water spread across social media on Sunday.
Reports from local news agencies initially suggested that the explosion occurred on a SOCAR oil platform.
Azerbaijan’s Oil Workers’ Rights Protection Committee also claimed that the explosion and fire had taken place on an oil platform, saying it had broken out at an old exploration site. SOCAR denies both of these claims.
Another video of explosion https://t.co/qlgjvQSBC8 pic.twitter.com/Y2XV2vepuM
— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) July 4, 2021
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Oil is an integral part of the Azerbaijani economy, which sits on the 20th largest oil reserves of any country in the world, according to Worldometer. Offshore oil platforms account for much of the oil production in the country.
