Workers Injured in Fire at Kuwait Refinery (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A fire at Kuwait's Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery on Monday injured several workers but operations were unaffected, Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said.
The fire erupted at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery with the state-owned oil company reporting a number of injuries, including smoke inhalation.
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said that Monday’s blaze at the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery along Kuwait’s Persian Gulf coastline north of its border with Saudi Arabia did not affect its electrical supply or oil exports.
The refinery was built to handle 25,000 barrels of oil a day to supply Kuwait’s domestic market primarily with petrol and diesel and recently underwent an expansion to reduce its emissions and boost capacity to 346,000 barrels a day, Al Jazeera reported.
Firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze in the refinery’s treatment unit, which removes sulfur from the oil products.
Residents in Kuwait’s coastal Fahaheel district reported hearing a large explosion and shared footage on social media of thick, black smoke billowing over the highway.
Kuwait, a nation home to 4.1 million people, has the world’s sixth-largest known oil reserves.
In June 2000, the refinery experienced significant damage when an explosion caused by a gas leak rocked the southern oil town and closed down production. The accident killed at least four people and injured dozens of others.
In 2008, there was a similar accident at the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery that was quickly brought under control.
