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We Lost 5 Oilfield Brothers in Oklahoma Rig Explosion | Pray for their families

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Rest In Peace Brothers:

  • Josh Ray, 35 of Fort Worth TX

  • Matt Smith, 29 of McAlester OK

  • Cody Risk, 26 – of Wellington CO

  • Parker Waldridge, 60 of Crescent OK

  • Roger Cunningham, 55 of Seminole OK

oklahoma rig 5.png

The bodies of five workers, including one Texan, were found Tuesday after an explosion ripped through a drilling rig in Oklahoma, triggering the nation’s deadliest oil and gas incident in several years.

The drilling rig is owned by Houston-based Patterson-UTI Energy, which employed three of the deceased. Patterson-UTI has grown into one of the nation’s largest onshore drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, companies.

 The deceased include one from Forth Worth, three from Oklahoma and one from Colorado. They are Josh Ray, 35, of Fort Worth; Cody Risk, of Wellington, Colo.; and Matt Smith, Parker Waldridge and Roger Cunningham, all of Oklahoma. Ray, Smith and Risk were Patterson-UTI employees.

“Five people were tragically lost in the event,” said Patterson-UTI Chief Executive Andy Hendricks. “Our focus right now is supporting the families. This has been a terrible tragedy and a terrible loss.”

 Patterson-UTI and the natural gas well operator, Oklahoma’s Red Mountain, said they are working with local authorities and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration to investigate the accident.

“We want to know what caused this horrible event, but today is not the time for those questions,” said Red Mountain spokesman Tony Say.

While Hendricks acknowledged Patterson-UTI has had other safety incidents in the past, he argued his company has ranked among the safest drillers in recent years. [read more]

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