Kazakhstan’s newly installed president has taken personal charge of overseeing the fight to put out a fire at an oil well in the west of the country.
Kasym-Jomart Tokayev wrote on his Twitter account on March 26 that the government would take all necessary measures to contain the blaze at Kalamkas, which began early in the morning the day before.
Officials with Industry and Infrastructure Development Ministry have attributed the start of the blaze to an oil seepage spontaneous combusting at a well operated by Mangistaumunaigaz, or MMG, a joint venture between Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunaiGas and China’s CNPC and PetroChina.
MMG has said no injuries have been reported.