Could be Mikey, could be.
From the article...
"This tragedy is probably the worst one the oil industry has had in many years. Accidents happen, of course, although the problem with PDVSA is the inordinate amount of accidents that have taken place during the last years," said Gustavo Coronel, an energy consultant and former executive of PDVSA. Considering that record overall, Coronel said, "we are not talking about bad luck but about lack of maintenance and inept management."
Found this..
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarch...&refer=latin_america
July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Two Petroleos de Venezuela SA workers were killed in a refinery accident, heightening concern about the state oil company's ability to operate after the government fired most of its oil workers to break a national strike.
A separate explosion damaged a company office building in Caracas. The workers at the refinery near Valencia in central Venezuela were asphyxiated when the alkylation unit, which produces components for gasoline, malfunctioned. Two other workers were injured, the company said.
The oil company, which accounted for 43 percent of government revenue last year, has been at the center of a struggle between the government and opposition since the two- month strike failed to oust President Hugo Chavez. Opposition leaders claim the government's firing of the strikers -- and hiring of less-experienced replacements -- has hindered the company's ability to raise output to pre-strike levels and made its facilities unsafe.
Checked against 2011 Annual Report,
Accidents appear to be on the increase however it seems leadership could be the root cause???
No idea myself really.
Going by the company's own report last year though, you'd think everything was being managed.
www.petrosa.co.za/docs/PetroSA_Annual_Report_2011.pdf
PetroSA ANNUAL REPORT 2011
Page 39
Health and Safety Well Managed with No
Fatalities
In the period under review, there were no fatalities, while
15 disabling injuries (non-permanent) were recorded. This
translates to a disabling injury frequency rate of 0.39, against
a target of less than 0.4.
A quantitative risk assessment for the GTL re!nery
was !nalised and a plan to resolve the process safety
management gaps that were identi!ed, was put in place.
The Inspectorate from the Department of Mineral Resources
continues to visit PetroSA to assess compliance with the Mine
Health and Safety Act. The inspectorate visits covered health
and machinery audits and no major !ndings were noted. The
Lloyds Register Certi!cate of Fitness was retained for the
F-A Platform, with 97% compliance achieved.
We have reviewed the company’s health, safety and
environmental policies with a view to creating an integrated
health, safety and environmental policy.
A key focus for the year was the updating of the
environmental management programme reports for
exploration in Block 9, bringing the reports in line with
international practice and current legislation. A similar
process was initiated for the GTL re!nery and this work will
be completed in the next !nancial year. The emphasis of
these updated reports is on performance monitoring and
measurement, rather than simply compliance.
Three Environmental Incidents Occurred
With respect to environmental incidents, de!ned as a highimpact incident that threatens the company’s operating
licence and permits and may result in evacuation of
employees and local communities, three incidents occurred in
the period under review.
(I cut some paragraphs out, see report for full info)
