HOUSTON, June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apache Corporation (NYSE,
Nasdaq: APA) today reported a pipeline rupture and fire at its Varanus
Island gas processing and transportation hub offshore Western Australia.
No one was injured and 153 people were evacuated following the onshore
incident involving a pipeline transporting oil and gas from offshore
production facilities to the island's processing facilities. Thirteen
people remain on the island to monitor the situation. The incident occurred
at 12:40 a.m. Central Time on June 3 (1:40 p.m. local time).
"Our priorities are the safety of our personnel; securing the
facilities; assuring that the environmental impact is limited to the
island; and resuming throughput of oil and gas production," said G. Steven
Farris, Apache's president and chief executive officer. "No one was
injured, all personnel are safe, and the rupture and fire appear to be
contained on the island.
"We will begin working as soon as possible to resume production in a
safe and environmentally responsible manner," Farris said. "We have
notified government authorities and also gas customers who will be affected
by the disruption in gas supply. At this time, we cannot estimate when
throughput will be resumed."
The island's operations, which account for approximately 330 million
cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas and 8,000 barrels of oil per day, have
been interrupted. Apache's net production flowing through the Varanus
facility is approximately 200 MMcf and 5,000 barrels per day.
Varanus Island, located approximately 60 miles (100 km) from Karratha
on Australia's Northwest Shelf, handles approximately 30 percent of Western
Australia's domestic natural gas requirements.
Apache Corporation is a large oil and gas independent with operations
in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom North Sea, Egypt,
Australia and Argentina.
This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within
the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including, without limitation, expectations,
beliefs, plans and objectives regarding production and exploration
activities. Any matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking
and, accordingly, involve estimates, assumptions, risks and uncertainties,
including, without limitation, risks, uncertainties and other factors
discussed in our 2007 Form 10-K and on our Web site,
http://www.apachecorp.com. There is no assurance that Apache's expectations
will be realized, and actual results may differ materially from those
expressed in the forward-looking statements. We assume no duty to update
these statements as of any future date.
APA-AU
SOURCE Apache Corporation
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