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Home Front: WoT
Many killed in US refinery blast
2005-03-24
I think the AP number killed is four. This is al-Jizz...
A huge explosion in a US petrochemical plant in Texas City has killed at least 14 people and left more than 100 people injured. The fire at the BP petrochemical plant on Wednesday triggered a major fire sending black smoke billowing into the sky. "It was just a real loud explosion," local resident Mike Martin said. "It sounded like a sonic boom, and it shook the pictures bad enough to where it knocked them off the wall. And it frightened me, so I jumped out of bed." Though what caused the blast is not yet known, authorities have ruled out terrorism as a cause. It is feared that the fatalities may rise. BP's Texas City plant is a sprawling industrial complex that stretches across 1200 acres with 30 refinery units. The plant processes 460 million barrels of crude oil every day, producing 3% of the US gasoline supply. It employs about 2000 people. Texas City is about 55km southeast of Houston. Last March, there was a blast and fire at a BP refinery in Texas City.
Posted by:Fred

#15  I'll be just fine. Although, thanks for the concern.
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2005-03-24 9:32:41 PM  

#14  ima think maybe you need to reconsider your line of work
Posted by: Half   2005-03-24 8:56:05 PM  

#13  Huh?
Posted by: Half   2005-03-24 8:55:29 PM  

#12  I did a complete walk through, several times, of this refinery for a project proposal last year. I had meetings with people that work over there. This place has at least 10 gate with mini ports where oil tankers come in unload oil at about 8000 gallons per minute. I felt like an ant walking around this place, this is one huge refinery. I must admit I couldn't finish the walk through fast enough and get out there. I was scared that something like this would happen during my walk through. This is why I pray before I step out of my house every morning and now, I will pray for the affected people and their families.
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2005-03-24 4:35:27 PM  

#11  http://www.platts.com/HOME/News/5485921.xml?p=HOME/News&S=n Link to announcement about Arizona refinery. Copy and paste. I never can get links to work. Dopey me.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-03-24 2:55:15 PM  

#10  AzCat, Tom - Thanks for the answers there. I didn't think they were connected at all, but I was curious.

Rantburg rules. :)
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats   2005-03-24 1:12:52 PM  

#9  Laurence, Venezuela owns the Citgo refineries, not BP refineries.
http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2005/02/01/ap1797688.html
Posted by: Tom   2005-03-24 12:27:08 PM  

#8  Yuma? hmmmm- nearest oil = ? Natural gas up the wazoo, though....
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-24 12:21:23 PM  

#7  True, Azcat. I've done a lot of refinery work and just because one part og the plant went to the moon on it's own doesn't shut down the whole plant. There are varying grades of gasolene refined at all refineries. On a side note, the EPA granted an air liscense for the construction of a new refinery to be built near Yuma, Arizona, the first new refinery to be built in the US in 30 years. Finally someone at EPA gets a little common sense.
Posted by: Deacon Blues   2005-03-24 12:05:37 PM  

#6  Laurence - This may not have much of an impact. Word is that the section of the refinery that was heavily damaged is one that does final processing to produce a higher grade gasoline. The rest of the refinery is reportedly operational so they'll lose a product line but won't come anywhere near shutting down.
Posted by: AzCat   2005-03-24 11:52:51 AM  

#5  Oh Texas City has already been there and done that.

http://www.chron.com/content/chronicle/metropolitan/txcity/
Posted by: tu3031   2005-03-24 9:11:13 AM  

#4  A week+ ago here on Rantburg somebody pointed out that Venezuela sends their oil to Texas and other places for refining. Not that I think they did anything in this matter, but made me wonder if BP does business down there and what effect, if any, this might have on the amount of oil Venz can get refined now. Is 433,000 barrels a day a lot, or is this plant a little one?

I used to live SE of Houston, and once visited Texas City in high school for a football game. Arund TCHS there was a sea of refineries. Pretty scary to imagine a fire of any size in that area.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats   2005-03-24 9:07:38 AM  

#3  Have they found anyone who shaved themselves completely and dressed all in white?

You know, like in that French chemical refinery explosion that "wasn't caused by terrorism".
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-03-24 8:10:49 AM  

#2  AP says 14 killed, 100 injured too. AP also says the plant processes 433,000, not 460 million (!!!) barrels per day.

But then, it is AP, so who knows.
Posted by: ST   2005-03-24 6:44:25 AM  

#1  Reuters says terrorism is not suspected but the cause is unknown, which is different to it being ruled out.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-03-24 12:10:53 AM  

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