A fire broke out early Monday at the Habitat natural-gas platform, about 13 km offshore from Santa Barbara, during decommissioning operations. The US Coast Guard said a gas leak ignited around 7am local time; platform and emergency crews closed a safety valve, cutting off the flow and limiting the blaze. The fire was reported fully extinguished by 11:40am.
Emergency crews evacuated 26 workers from the platform, with two minor injuries reported. Some workers later returned to the structure to conduct additional safety work. Matthew Marler, chief of the incident management division for Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach, said interagency coordination 'played a decisive role' in the response.
The platform, also known as the Pitas Point Unit, was built in 1981 with crude production starting in 1983; it produced mostly natural gas — over 6.5 million cubic metres — before its lease expired in 2016. It is owned and operated by California-based oil and gas firm DCOR LLC. Decommissioning is required to safely retire legacy offshore infrastructure under environmental rules.
The incident drew symbolic attention because it coincides with the Trump administration's policy push to expand offshore oil and gas exploration and production. Environmental groups point to the fire as evidence that legacy platforms pose serious risks if decommissioning is not rigorously supervised. From a supply chain perspective, US West Coast gas logistics does not depend on small assets like Habitat, but the onshore-offshore service chain handling decommissioning (specialised vessels, cutting crews, waste handling) is expected to see growing workload.
Key Takeaways:
1. Gas-leak fire broke out during decommissioning at the Habitat platform off Santa Barbara.
2. 26 workers evacuated, 2 minor injuries; the fire was extinguished in 4.5 hours.
3. The platform is a 1981 DCOR LLC-operated gas asset whose lease expired in 2016.
4. The incident gained symbolic weight by coinciding with Trump's offshore drilling push.
5. Decommissioning service chain (vessels, cutting crews, waste) likely to see rising workload.
