Mexico City, Mexico – Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s state-run oil company, confirmed that “modern pirates” assaulted an offshore oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico on February 13, assaulting workers and stealing some of the company’s property.
The assailants raided the Zaap-D oil rig, part of the massive Ku-Maloob-Zaap oil field which sits off the coast of the Campeche state in the Gulf.
Reportedly, the unknown “pirates” arrived by boat to the Zaap-D rig – a “satellite” platform usually manned by two workers – sometime between the late evening on February 13 and the early morning hours of February 14. The two workers were reportedly beaten and bound for five hours by eight men before authorities found them while the facilities were being robbed.
Pemex said that the attackers stole tools, radio devices, breathing equipment and other property.
While oil facilities have previously reported stolen property, with 102 raids reported from 2018 to 2022 within the Campeche Sea Shelf, such violence against employees is uncommon.
The Ku-Maloob-Zaap zone is a hotspot for oil production in Mexico, accounting for 40% of the oil produced by Pemex, roughly 745,000 barrels per day as reported by El Economista.
The “Sonda de Campeche” is an oil and natural gas-rich stretch of sea that borders Campeche within the Gulf of Mexico, the body of water currently disputed by U.S. President Donald Trump as he has pushed to rename it as the Gulf of America.
The Sonda of Campeche harbors 100 facilities, most of them oil and gas producers, which fuel domestic consumption and international exports.
During her morning briefing, President Claudia Sheinbaum said that the Navy reinforced patrols to safeguard the oil facilities within the Gulf.
On February 17, the Mexican government granted clearance for the U.S. military to enter Mexico’s territory and travel into Campeche, where 10 military officers will train Mexican Navy officials under the brokered agreement between Mexico and the U.S. to cooperate in security.
Featured image credit: via Pemex Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/pemex/
