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Jet fire at oil and gas condensate field in Irkutsk region extinguished

The fire broke out on Sunday during the works at the field’s gas treatment unit. According to preliminary data, five people were hurt

IRKUTSK, December 18. /TASS/. A jet fire at a gas treatment unit at the Merkovskoye oil and gas condensate field in the Irkutsk region has been extinguished, the press service of the Russian emergencies ministry’s Irkutsk region department said on Sunday.

"The fire was localized at 02:24 a.m. local time (09:24 p.m. Moscow time). The jet fire at the buffer drum area has been extinguished. Firefighting operation continues. There is no threat to the local population," it said.

The fire broke out on Sunday during the works at the field’s gas treatment unit. According to preliminary data, five people were hurt, Konstantin Vlasov, head of the settlement of Verkhnemarkovo, located 2.5 kilometers of the field, told TASS. He also said that the accident did not tell on the operation of the settlement’s vital facilities.

Discovered in 1962, the Merkovskoye oil and gas condensate field is operated by the Irkutsk Oil Company, which obtained the license in 2000.

The Irkutsk Oil Company is one of Russia’s largest independent producer of hydrocarbons. It operated in the Irkutsk region, Krasnoyarsk territory, and in the Republic od Sakha (Yakutia). It plans to commission a gas chemical facility in the north of the Irkutsk region in 2024.

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