South African oil refiner Engen has slowed operations at its 180 000 barrel-per-day plant in Durban after an oil tank caught fire, although the blaze did not damage the refining facilities, officials said on Tuesday.
The fire, which continues to burn, started on Monday evening when a petrol tank containing about seven million litres of petrol exploded after it was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm in Durban, officials said.
An official said the fire had been contained at the storage tank and had not spread to other facilities in the refinery, where crude production would continue at a reduced rate.
”The fire is still going on, but there is no danger of it spreading away from the tank that is burning at the moment, it is still a very large fire with a lot of smoke,” said Willem Oosthuizen, general manager of the refinery.
”We’ll have to run our crude strategy a little bit different [sic], but the refinery is still online and will remain online. We will run at a lower rate and watch the situation on the tanks because some of our crude supply tanks are in fairly close proximity to the fire,” Oosthuizen said.
He added that even though the fire had caused the loss of between five and eight million litres of petrol, it was unlikely that it would cause any significant supply constraints.
Oosthuizen estimated the total loss incurred in the fire, including the crude product in the tank, at about R120-million.
Meanwhile, a woman living near the refinery was rushed to hospital on Tuesday morning after having breathing difficulties, paramedics said.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said, ”She is being taken to St Augustine’s Hospital but we have had only one report like this so far.”
Meanwhile, officials at the nearby Durban International Airport said planes were landing as normal.
Thick black smoke covered part of Durban on Tuesday morning and plumes could still be seen billowing from the petrol tank.
Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) spokesperson Colin Naidoo said pilots were landing aircraft normally on Tuesday even though there was a lot of smoke in the air.
”They are fine but this could change if the wind direction changes,” he said. – Reuters, Sapa