Photo courtesy of ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corp has been fined about $165,000 by US regulators for safety lapses including inadequate training and equipment maintenance over an explosion that injured four workers at an aging Baton Rouge, Louisiana, refinery last year. The facility was faulted 5 yr ago by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing … Read more
Photo courtesy KWQC Davenport IA A massive fire broke out at the partially flooded Pemex Salina Cruz oil refinery in southern Mexico on Wednesday, injuring nine people and forcing the evacuation of over 500 people from homes around the plant. The refinery’s operations had been suspended Tuesday due to heavy rains from former Tropical Storm Calvin. The company said the … Read more
(photo courtesy of Reuters) The chemical safety board just released its report on the 2015 explosion that occurred at the Torrance, CA, refinery. Four workers suffered minor injuries from the incident, but a near miss occurred when a large piece of debris flew 80′ to a nearby alkylation unit barely missing the settler tanks containing … Read more
No injuries reported. We’re glad to hear that no one was hurt as a 1-ton sulfur tank exploded at Tesoro’s Carson refinery. Operating at a capacity of 380 Mbpd, it is one of the largest refineries on the West Coast. In this case, the insulation in the tank caught fire after the dissipation of the … Read more
Feedstock supply loss leads to leak, and then fire. Total SA’s Arthur Texas refinery faced a reformer, sulfur recovery unit, and a pressure swing absorption unit after a small fire. As always, we’re pleased at reports that there were no injuries, nor off site impact due to the fire. Situations such as this fire motivated … Read more
Heater tube fails as hydrogen unit was being shut down The 260 Mbpd Lake Charles Refinery in LA faced a fire around mid-day, which was put out without injury to operators. All monitored units were online by early noon and there was no effect on crude and product prices as a result of the fire. … Read more
Operations near normal Our hearts and prayers go out to the seven workers injured in a flash fire at Sunco Logistics crude oil terminal in Nederland, Texas. A construction project at the site was affected, with resulting injuries to the employees of a site contractor, L-con. Of the seven injured, four were critical. The critically … Read more
Heavy oil hydrocracker structurally damaged As always, we’re relieved that no one was injured in what is a critical system fire at the Motiva plant in Convent, LA. Repairs are expected to take up to four months, though sources claim that “little damage” was done to the hydrocracker reactors themselves. Initial reports suggest that a … Read more
Contract worker injured by electric shock, revived by refinery emergency personnel, taken to area hospital As always, we’re happy to note that refinery safety protocols and response teams were able to take care of this potentially dangerous situation professionally and with great haste. The Galveston Bay refinery’s coking complex and two hydrotreating units are shut … Read more
Weak safety culture at Martinez, CA refinery contributed to injury incidents between 2010 and 2014 The board reviewed 15 instances where workers were sprayed with sulfuric acid from the refinery’s alkylation unit. A combination of pressure to work quickly, a lack of preventative inspections by California’s state workplace safety agency, Cal/OSHA, and a lack of … Read more
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