The Reforma newspaper group led its editions on Monday with an exclusive report of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico near the site of an explosion earlier this month at a Pemex gas platform in which two people died.
According to the report, the oil slick presently covers over 400 square kilometers, and is roughly twice the size of Guadalajara.
While acknowledging the spill, Pemex has been reluctant to provide updates on the situation, Reforma’s Guadalajara-based Mural newspaper said.
Two oil rig workers died, one is missing and eight were injured in the July 7 explosion at the Nohoch Alfa platform gas processing center in the Cantarell field. After the incident, Pemex “remained silent for hours,” Mural reported. The state-owned oil giant eventually said the crude oil leak was minimal and that satellite images showed the slick to be barely 0.6 kilometers in length.
Greenpeace Mexico representative Pablo Ramírez slammed Pemex: “The complete opacity with which this spill has been handled is worrying given the possibility that it is typical of similar incidents that go by without being fully reported, investigated and quantified.”
Pemex also said the spill is unrelated to the July 7 explosion, and was immediately reported to the Safety, Energy and Environment Agency (ASEA) and the Secretary of the Navy (SEMAR), stressing that the incident is “under control.”