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Oil and Gas Production Incidents

Oil and gas production facilities handle high-pressure reservoirs of flammable and toxic hydrocarbons — often in remote locations with limited emergency response. CSB investigations in this sector document well blowouts, vapor cloud fires, and hydrogen sulfide releases where management of change failures, alarm management deficiencies, and inadequate JSAs were key contributing factors.

10 CSB investigations in this database cover the oil and gas production sector, spanning 1998–2024.


Oil and Gas Production Incidents (10)

Incident Date Location Key Hazards
Aghorn Operating Inc. Waterflood Station Hydrogen Sulfide Release 10/26/2019 Odessa, TX Hydrogen Sulfide Release, Toxic Release
Sunoco Logistics Partners Flash Fire 08/12/2016 Nederland, TX Flash Fire, Explosion
Enterprise Pascagoula Gas Plant Explosion and Fire 06/27/2016 Moss Point, MS Chemical Release, Explosion
Partridge Raleigh Oilfield Explosion and Fire 06/05/2006 Raleigh, MS Explosion, Fire
Midland Resource Recovery Explosion 05/24/2017 Barbour County, WV Explosion, Runaway Reaction
Macondo Blowout and Explosion 04/20/2010 Explosion, Fire
Sonat Exploration Co. Catastrophic Vessel Overpressurization 03/04/1998 Pitkin, LA Overpressure, Fire
Wendland 1H Well Fatal Explosion 01/29/2020 Burleson County , TX Explosion, Fire
Pryor Trust Fatal Gas Well Blowout and Fire 01/22/2018 Pittsburg County, OK Explosion, Fire
BLSR Operating Ltd. Vapor Cloud Fire 01/13/2003 Rosharon, TX Vapor Cloud Explosion, Flash Fire

Frequently Involved Hazard Types

Explosion · Fire · Chemical Release · Overpressure · Flash Fire · Structural Failure


Most Common Chemicals Involved

Hydrocarbon Vapor, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Flammable Gas, Flammable Liquid, Diesel


Data sourced from CSB.gov public investigation reports. This site is an independent project not affiliated with the U.S. CSB.