Oil rig fire hits Mexico`s oil output

Mexico City: Mexico`s oil production dropped following a deadly fire at an offshore platform, while authorities are still searching for three missing workers, state-run energy firm Pemex said Sunday.

Production fell from 650,000 barrels per day to 430,000 in the Campeche Sound region of the Gulf of Mexico after Wednesday`s blast and blaze, which killed four people, a company official said.

Most oil wells shut down when the main structure of the Abkatun A-Permanente complex burned, said Pemex exploration and production director Gustavo Rodriguez.

The complex is connected to six platforms, which in turn are linked to more than 20 oil and gas pipelines that take the products to export and distribution facilities, he said.

"Restoring production entails a high level of difficulty due to the number of pipelines," he told reporters, adding that Pemex has launched a plan to achieve its production goal for the year.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Mexico passed a major energy reform bill last year to improve its aging infrastructure and reverse declining oil production, which has fallen from 3.4 million barrels per day in 2004 to 2.36 million last year.