Fire drama at Kuwait oil refinery

REFINERY FIRE: The blaze in Kuwait is under control, say officials. (Getty Images)

A fire that broke out on Wednesday at Kuwait's largest oil refinery, Mina al-Ahmadi, is now out and has resulted in no deaths, the Kuwait National Petroleum Company said.

A worker from a maintenance firm, briefly feared missing in the blaze, has since been found unharmed, KNPC spokesman Ahmad al-Muzzaiel told Reuters.

Al-Muzzaiel declined to offer any estimate for the damage caused by the blaze, which the company had deemed "critical" shortly after it broke out in a crane positioned between one tank filled with gasoline and another that was empty.

Six firemen suffering from exhaustion were evacuated from the scene of the blaze, according to Kuwait television.

The refinery has a capacity to process 460,000 barrels per day of crude and a company official said the fire had not affected output.

Five people were killed and 50 injured in an explosion at the refinery in June 2000 when a condensate line between a NGL plant and refinery failed.

The blast occurred when operators were trying to isolate the leaking line. Three crude units and two reformers were damaged.

The accident to the Gulf state's biggest oil refinery made an enormous economic looses and the then Kuwaiti oil minister offered to resign.

Investigations revealed the failed pipe had suffered corrosion and slipped through the inspection and maintenance.

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Time for Risk and Functional Safety Assessments
Posted by Khaldoon, Melbourne, Australia on Thursday 4 September 2008 at 06:49 UAE time


This is the second if not the third time I heard of Mina Al Ahmadi refinery going through a major hazard like this. It is time middle east oil and gas plants take Risk assessment and Functional Safety seriously, as this gives layers of protection preventing and in worst cases mitigating potential hazards

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