Engen trims runs due to tank fire

JOHANNESBURG – 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 Monday evening when a petrol tank containing about seven million litres of petrol exploded after it was struck by lightning during a thunderstorm at the South African coastal city of Durban, officials said. An official said the fire has been contained at the storage tank and hasn’t 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,” Willem Oosthuizen, general manager of the refinery said.”We’ll have to run our crude strategy a little bit different, but the refinery is still on line and will remain on line.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 about 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 some 120 million rand.NampaAn official said the fire has been contained at the storage tank and hasn’t 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,” Willem Oosthuizen, general manager of the refinery said.”We’ll have to run our crude strategy a little bit different, but the refinery is still on line and will remain on line.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 about 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 some 120 million rand.Nampa