Third person dies from Chesapeake well blast in Texas - local media

Forbes Energy Services

02/02/2020 24:28

By Liz Hampton
    Feb 1 (Reuters) - A third person has died following a blast
this week at a Chesapeake Energy Corp  CHK.N  well site in
Burleson County, Texas, according to a local media report. 
    Brian Maldonado, 25, of San Diego, Texas, succumbed on
Saturday morning to injuries he suffered during Wednesday's
blast, the Alice Echo News Journal reported, citing family and
friends. Attempts by Reuters to reach Maldonado's relatives were
not immediately successful. 
    Oilfield service companies Eagle Pressure Control and a unit
of Forbes Energy Services  FLSS.PK , along with Chesapeake, had
workers on the scene when the blast occurred at the remote well
site near Deanville, Texas, about 75 miles (121 km) east of
Austin. An early inspection report said workers were upgrading
the well when a surge of natural gas ignited.
    It was not immediately clear which company Maldonado worked
for. Forbes Energy Services on Friday said one of their
employees was among the victims. It did not immediately respond
to a request for comment on Saturday. 
    Two of the workers who died - one on the day of the blast,
and the other on Thursday - worked for Eagle Pressure Control,
according to a source familiar with the matter who declined on
be named. Chesapeake on Friday said none of its employees were
among the injured or deceased. 
    One other person was injured as a result of the blast, but
no update has been provided on their condition.
    Chesapeake and Eagle Pressure Control did not immediately
respond to a request for comment on Saturday. 
    The incident marks the deadliest oilfield accident since a
January 2018 explosion at a Patterson-UTI Energy  PTEN.O  rig in
Oklahoma killed five people. 

 (Reporting by Liz Hampton: Editing by Daniel Wallis)
 ((Liz.Hampton@thomsonreuters.com; +1 713 210 8522; Reuters
Messaging: Reuters Messaging: liz.hampton.reuters@reuters.net))