Azerbaijan has denied reports of an explosion on its offshore oil and gas fields and experts believe a mud volcano may have caused the blast. A powerful explosion occurred in the Caspian Sea on the evening of July 4, and it was speculated to be on an Azerbaijanian oil platform.
An eyewitness recorded a video that shows the sky turning crimson and a pillar of flame rising to it. Eyewitnesses claim to have felt a shock wave on the shore. Initially, the media reported a fire on the Umid gas platform, but Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR denied it. “There have been no accidents on offshore platforms and industrial facilities under the control of SOCAR, the work continues in normal mode,” the company said. SOCAR announced that the vessel had been dispatched to the scene of the incident.
The Ministry of Ecology of Azerbaijan, in turn, said that according to the preliminary version of experts, the cause of the explosion is a volcanic eruption.