The explosion occurred in the morning local time on Thursday. No injuries were reported and no structures were damaged, Fort Bend County Sheriff Chad Norvell said. The fire was extinguished at 12:15 p.m. CET on Thursday, Fort Bend County later confirmed. Energy Transfer, the operator of the natural gas pipeline, told Reuters in an emailed statement that “our control center immediately shut down the line and the area was secured.” According to Victoria Cann, spokeswoman for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the company had reported a gas release from the pipeline. The Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates oil and gas pipelines and operations in the state, said it would investigate the explosion. Spokesman Andrew Keese told Reuters the committee had already begun an investigation. The operator of the pipeline, Energy Transfer, is also investigating the cause of the explosion. Meanwhile, benchmark U.S. natural gas prices at Henry Hub rose more than $6 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) on Thursday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a smaller-than-expected injection into gas storage for the week to July 1st. US natural gas prices have retreated from recent highs after the Freeport LNG export facility halted operations in early June due to a fire. The force majeure at Freeport LNG is set to continue until September and the plant is expected to return to some capacity by the end of the year. As a result of lower US LNG exports, benchmark natural gas prices in America fell as more gas would now be available for domestic consumption. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More top reads from Oilprice.com:
