Dramatic footage shows boats tackling circle of fire on sea's surface in Gulf of Mexico

3 July 2021, 09:06 | Updated: 3 July 2021, 09:09

An ocean-surface fire has been extinguished after an undersea gas pipeline sent flames boiling up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Footage shows a circle of bright orange fire on the sea's surface near a drilling platform as boats work to extinguish the flames.

Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said nobody was hurt during the incident at the Ku-Maloob-Zaap field, the Associated Press reports.

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It said the gas leak was brought under control after about five hours, with the leak having started on Friday morning.

The head of Mexico's oil safety regulator said the leak "did not generate any spill".

Reuters reported that a Pemex assessment of the incident, shared to the news agency by a source, said: "The turbomachinery of Ku-Maloob-Zaap's active production facilities were affected by an electrical storm and heavy rains."

The report said staff on the fire boats used nitrogen to get the blaze under control.

The fire will further concern environmentalists who are worried about energy companies' activities in the gulf.

The region has suffered a number of incidents over the decades, most notably in 2010 with the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which led to an oil spill.