A gas tank of Ploiesti-based Petrotel Refinery, held by Russian group LukOil exploded on Saturday night. No casualties were registered while material losses include 100 tonnes of gas and the value of the 1000 cubic-metre tank.
The ex-works gas tonne price, no taxes included, is of about 7 million lei, therefore Petrotel’s losses, the tank not considered, amounted to 700 million lei. At the time of the explosion, the tank contained only 200 tonnes of gas, half of which was successfully removed.
The fire took 10 hours to put out and the fire brigade managed to prevent it from expanding to other two nearby tanks. “I can’t answer this question (i.e. What caused the explosion?) until the investigation is over. It may be about some flammable substances or it may be just anything else,” Andrei Chirilescu, Petrotel-LukOil deputy manager, said.
Petrotel has a history in explosions, as another two occurred back in 1986 and 1987. It is one of the top ten refineries in Romania, with 2.5 million tonnes of crude in annual refining capacity. Petrotel processes some 1.5 million tonnes every year, obtaining about 300,000 tonnes of gas.
LukOil took over the refinery in February 1998, when it bought 51% in Petrotel from the Romanian State. The value of the transaction, including the price and investments the Russian concern pledged to make, amounted to $300 million.