Sam Fletcher
OGJ Online
HOUSTON, Apr. 16Conoco Inc. officials said they expect Tuesday to assess damage to the companys key Humber refinery in northern England, following an explosion in a saturate gas unit that resulted in a major fire about 2:20 p.m. British Standard Time Monday.
Witnesses said flames shot up at least 200 ft. But officials at Conocos Houston headquarters said late Monday that local firefighters had the fire under control and were letting it burn itself out.
Conoco officials at the scene said both of the plants crude units were down and that all but two unitsa calciner and another unidentified unitwould remain shut down "until further notice." There was no immediate indication of how the accident may have occurred.
Two people suffered apparently minor injuries in the mishap. Sources reported one worker at the plant was treated on site for cuts and bruises, while a nearby resident apparently was injured when the blast blew a door off its hinges.
Company officials said the refinery is one of the largest in Europe, representing the best state-of-the-art technology, with a throughput-design of 230,000 b/d of primarily North Sea crude. Conoco employs about 700 of its own workers and as many as 400 regular contractors at the plant. But company officials reported only 200 workers were there Monday as a result of the Easter holiday and that all of them had been accounted for.
Conoco officials also reported no spills of oil or refined products as a result of the mishap.
News of the accident spurred oil futures prices Monday to a 5-week high of $28.79/bbl on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, Conoco officials told OGJ Online that the Humber refinery was just "a couple of weeks" away from its scheduled turnaround and had stockpiled products in preparation. As a result, they anticipate no major disruptions of supplies to customers.
The refinery was built at a cost of $77.5 million on a 480-acre site along the Humber River in north Lincolnshire, near the ports of Immingham and Grimsby. Since the plant began operation in 1969, Conoco has invested another $1.2 billion to enhance efficiency, safety and environmental protection and has earmarked another $1 billion for similar investments through 2010.
It produces a wide range of products for the UK market and for export, including low-sulfur gasoline and diesel, heating oils, kerosene, marine and aviation fuel, and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
Unlike conventional refineries that process bottom-of-the-barrel components into heavy fuel oil, the Humber refinery uses thermal cracking, calcining, and coking processes to convert those heavier oils into more valuable petroleum coke and lighter products.
Conoco officials said the plant is the worlds largest producer of needle coke, used in the manufacture of electrodes for electric arc steel furnaces. It is the only refinery in Europe to produce needle coke and accounts for more than half of Conocos total production of that product. That was a factor in making Conoco a four-time winner of the Queens Award for Export Achievement, officials said.
The refinery also produces anode coke, used in aluminum manufacture.
Company officials claims the refinery has a good safety record and has won 11 gold awards for occupational safety from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents.
Contact Sam Fletcher at [email protected]
