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Oil on fire at Lukoil’s Arctic field

Lukoil has a serious environmental challenge in several of its Arctic projects.

For the second time in a month, a major fire rages at one of Lukoil’s facilities in the Komi Republic.

Location

The fire erupted on Tuesday night at one of the company’s fields near Usinsk when flare gas put parts of the installations ablaze. The flames were extinguished after 1,5 hours, Interfax reports. No human injury, nor pollution of the surrounding environment, is reported.

Fire fighters managed to put out the fire quickly this time. However, in May they faced a far more difficult situation when four reservoirs with a total of 20 thousand tons oil caught fire. Then, it took two days to get control over the burning tanks. One fire fighter was injured in the flames.

Usinsk is world-known for its many cases of oil accidents. Major spills took place in 1988 and in 1992. However, the by far biggest accident in the area unfolded in 1994 when more than 100,000 tons, and by some estimates more than 200,000 tons, spilled into the tundra from a pipeline between Usinsk and Kharyaga. Other spills followed, among them in 2007 and 2010.