Incident Report

Subject:                    Explosion at Mexican Oil Refinery Kills Two 

Date of Email report:   Sun 31/07/2011

Report Detail:

An explosion ripped through Mexico’s second-largest oil refinery on Saturday, causing a massive fire and killing two workers, though production was not affected, state oil monopoly Pemex said. The explosion occurred at the 315,000 barrel-per-day Tula refinery in central Mexico while the company was running a trial of its visbreaker, a processing unit used in the distillation of crude oil, a Pemex spokesman said. One worker was taken to hospital with serious injuries caused by the blaze, which was brought under control within an hour, Pemex said in a statement. “The accident occurred in a small, very localized area, and so the refining production process was not affected,” the statement said. “Operations are continuing normally.” Pemex said it is investigating the cause of the accident.

The number of injured could be higher and a helicopter was being used to airlift workers needing medical attention, said Miguel Garcia, emergency services director for Hidalgo state. Pemex employees were evacuated from the refinery but the fire posed no risk to the surrounding area, Garcia said. Clouds of black smoke were seen billowing out of the refinery in pictures taken by residents near the blast and posted on the social networking site Twitter. Mexico imports about 40 percent of its gasoline because of a lack of refining infrastructure in the oil producing nation.

The country imported 674,500 barrels per day of fuel in June, according to Pemex data. There are only six refineries in Mexico and serious accidents in the past have lead to a spike in imports or gasoline and diesel prices. In September of last year an explosion killed one worker at Pemex’s Cadereyta refinery in northern Mexico, Mexico’s third largest oil processing facility. That incident forced Pemex to shut two units and reduce output at the refinery, which can process 275,000 barrels per day, causing U.S. oil product futures to briefly jump.

Additional Documentation: