Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has extinguished a fire that occurred on May 17 at its 170,000-b/d Refinaria Presidente Bernardes (RPBC) refinery in Cubatão, São Paulo.
RPBC’s on-site fire brigade team immediately isolated and controlled the fire, which broke out following a diesel oil spill, Petrobras said in a release.
While the operator did not identify the specific unit impacted by the fire, Petrobras did confirm no other refining units were damaged as a result of the incident, nor were any injuries reported in the aftermath of the event.
With the incident now reported to all necessary environmental and regulatory agencies—and an investigation presumably to follow—Petrobras said there will be no interruption to production of petroleum products or risks to market supply in the fire’s wake.
Additional details regarding the incident were not disclosed.
Commissioned in 1955 and one of five refineries not included in operator’s ongoing downstream divestment portfolio, RPBC produces diesel (45%), gasoline (25%), fuel oil (13%), and LPG (6%) for supply to São Paulo (primarily, São Paulo capital city), with a portion also for delivery to Santos as well as destinations in north, northeastern, and southern Brazilian regions (OGJ Online, May 11, 2022).
Robert Brelsford | Downstream Editor
Robert Brelsford joined Oil & Gas Journal in October 2013 as downstream technology editor after 8 years as a crude oil price and news reporter on spot crude transactions at the US Gulf Coast, West Coast, Canadian, and Latin American markets. He holds a BA (2000) in English from Rice University and an MS (2003) in education and social policy from Northwestern University.
