A man has died in an explosion at an offshore natural gas pipeline in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, local police reported. Fire is still burning at the site of the explosion.

The explosion was reported to Plaquemines Parish police Saturday evening; one person was reported missing from the scene.

“For reasons under investigation, an explosion and fire occurred while Nichols was believed to be working on the pipeline,” police said in a Facebook post. “Nichols died as a result and with the assistance of the Plaquemines Parish Sheriff’s Office, his body was recovered in the area of ​​the incident. No other people were injured.”

“The pipelines are blocked and one is still on fire, burning the remaining natural gas in the line. Air monitoring measurements have been taken and there is no danger to the public. This incident remains under investigation,” authorities also said.

Plaquemines Parish is home to Plaquemines LNG, a project of Venture Global, which is currently building another LNG plant in the area, Calcasieu Pass LNG, which will have an annual capacity of 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas. Plaquemines LNG is planned to have an annual capacity of up to 20 million tons.

The final investment decision for the project was made in 2022, and in July of this year the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave Venture Global the green light to inject gas into the system. The first phase of Plaquemines LNG will have a capacity of 13.3 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year.

Buyers of the gas include Poland’s state-owned energy company Orlen, Chinese companies Sinopec and CNOOC, as well as Shell and France’s EDF. Venture Global has also secured buyers for the second phase of the project, including Exxon, Chevron, Germany’s EnBW, Malaysia’s Petronas and China Gas.

Gas deliveries from the Plaquemines LNG plant are scheduled to begin in mid-2024.

By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com