Pipeline operator Kinder Morgan said on Friday a fire that erupted on a west Texas natural gas pipeline it operates was extinguished after burning for most of the day.
The Houston company declared force majeure on a segment of the pipeline in Ward County, Texas, following the fire, according to a notice filed on a company website on Friday.
The force majeure affects the Lockridge Lateral segment of the Natural Gas Pipeline of America system. The outage will disrupt flows to 10 locations in west Texas until further notice, according to the filing.
“A segment of the Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America LLC’s (NGPL) system near Pyote, Texas experienced a natural gas release and fire, which has been extinguished,” company spokesperson Amy Baek said.
Captain Rudolpho Ozuna with the Ward County Sheriff’s office said a natural gas pipeline exploded shortly after 5 a.m. CDT (1000 GMT) on Friday.
That explosion triggered another blaze that enveloped a liquids pipeline nearby, Ozuna said. The liquids pipeline was carrying “oil or something like that,” he said.
As of 4:30 p.m. CDT, a fire was continuing to burn, Ozuna said. No injuries were reported.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver, additional reporting by Erwin Seba in Houston; Editing by Leslie Adler)