Texas Gas Plant Fire Not Yet Under Control - Sheriff's Office
February 11 2009 - 12:48PM
Dow Jones News
A fire at DCP Midstream Partners' East Texas Complex natural gas
processing plant in Carthage, Tex., isn't yet under control, but no
serious injuries have occurred and all plant workers have been
accounted for, a dispatcher for the Panola County sheriff's
department said Wednesday.
Melissa Poindexter, the dispatcher, said she didn't know the
extent of damage to the plant. Part of U.S Route 79 has been shut
down as a result of the fire and explosions, Poindexter said.
DCP Midstream Partners is a 50-50 joint venture between
ConocoPhillips (COP) and Spectra Energy Corp. (SE). A spokeswoman
for DCP wasn't immediately able to provide additional details on
the fire.
The East Texas Complex plant, or ETX, is near the Louisiana
border. The plant processes about 447 million cubic feet of natural
gas a day, according to DCP Midstream.
Some of the gas processed at the ETX plant is delivered via
Anadarko Petroleum (APC) gathering facilities in Panola County.
Natural gas futures rose following reports of the fire. Nymex
natural gas for March delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange
was trading 7.4 cents, or 1.63%, higher at $4.617 a million British
thermal units Wednesday afternoon.
-By Christine Buurma, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2061;
christine.buurma@dowjones.com