Massive Gas Explosion

In recent years the Saudi government has ordered a massive "dash for gas" by the government owned oil company Aramco. The amount of oil that Saudi Arabia can extract is governed by OPEC agreements.

The Saudi government has decided to expolt its massive gas reserves for internal use (e.g. electricity generation) so that it can export more of the oil it produces.

Earlier today a massive explosion occurred, apparently, while engineers were connecting a new pipe to the main pipeline. Reports here and here.

Twenty eight people are reported killed and twelve people are still missing; there is no estimate given of the number injured. There is no indication that this is terrorist related, however there is no indication given of the cause of the blast. Five of the dead are Saudi Aramco employees, the rest were contractors.

The fire occurred about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from Aramco's Hawiyah gas plant.

In recent years, western managers have been replaced by Saudi and Arabic managers. These people are far from being incompetent and Aramco has a extremely safety-concious ethic. However, the Arab mindset is not one that will challenge authority or risk one's own career to highlight a safety issue.

An alternative explanation can be found in the fact that only five out of the 28 dead are Saudi Aramco employees. The remainder are Asian workers employed by contractors. Aramco uses it's bargaining power to force contractors to lower their fees to rock bottom levels. The contractors can then only make a profit if they cut corners e.g. on employee wages, training etc.

This is, of course, only my opinion based on a lot of guesswork and taking the news reports on face value.