Carbon Monoxide Cited in Deaths of 3 Oil Rig Workers

Three workers killed in a Ventura County oil rig accident last week died after inhaling toxic levels of carbon monoxide gas, the Ventura County coroner’s office said Friday.

Investigators originally suspected that the workers were killed by breathing lethal doses of hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas sometimes found in oil fields. But the coroner’s report appears to debunk that theory and shifts queries to the possible source of the carbon monoxide, said Mike Furrow, vice president of Pride Petroleum, which employed the three men who died.

Oil field deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning are extremely rare, he said. Only one small truck engine was running around the wellhead at the time of the accident, Furrow said.

Carbon monoxide is emitted from car tailpipes and other sources of fire. It can attain lethal levels in enclosed spaces.

State officials and petroleum executives are continuing their investigations into the Aug. 10 accident.

Furrow said the coroner’s findings will shift the focus of his company’s investigation to the possible source of the carbon monoxide.

The small truck engine running at the time of the accident was owned by Schlumberger Well Services, Furrow said. But it is rare for emissions from a single engine to cause problems because carbon monoxide dissipates quickly in open-air pits, such as the one in which the victims were working, he said.