Posted: 29 September 2011 2041 hrs
(www.channelnewsasia.com)
SINGAPORE: As the fire at Shell's Pulau Bukom refinery continues, the company says it will shut down the whole facility if that's what it takes to put out the blaze completely. A full shutdown will take two days.
The company has shut several units in the vicinity of the fire at the 500,000-barrels-a-day refinery including a hydrocracker, Shell said earlier.
Speaking at a media conference on Thursday evening, Shell Singapore chairman Lee Tzu Yang said they are working to identify the source that is still feeding the fire which broke out on Wednesday afternoon.
The fire is confined to a pump house and a complex interconnected system of pipelines. The pipes are no longer in use but still contain fuel, which causes flares when the pipes open up under fire.
Shell Vice-President of Manufacturing Operations East, Martijn van Koten, said the fire is likely related to maintenance work that was being carried out at the time.
However, he declined to give details saying this would be pure speculation.
Shell said investigations will be carried out after the fire is put out, which remains its firm priority.
Mr van Koten said the strategy is to starve the fire and contain it in an area where it can be put out.
Fresh explosions were heard at the refinery around noon on Thursday.
Witnesses at the Pasir Panjang port and at West Coast said they saw more black smoke and fireballs shooting into the sky.
Ben Koh, an eyewitness at Pasir Panjang port, said: "The fireball was 10, 20 metres in height. After that I can see small flames, but ... from a small portion of the island."
He said the smoke got thicker, with the smell of petrol in the air. "It's not really that strong, but you can smell it," he added.
Shell said in a statement that it experienced a surge in the fire at the refinery around noon, but the fire remains contained.
It said the surge in the fire was caused by the remnants of light fuel components where the fire started.
The company said the smoke that several callers to the Channel NewsAsia news hotline said they saw was from hydrocarbons that are not fully combusted.
Shell said it is working closely with the SCDF, and its global fire consultants are also on site to provide input to the team.
In a separate statement earlier Thursday, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said fire fighting operations are still underway, but the fire is contained within the bund wall.
SCDF said about 20 water jets are being used to carry out boundary cooling operations to prevent heat exposure to the nearby storage tanks.
Two SCDF fire engines were badly damaged by the fire and one fire engine sustained partial damage.
SCDF said early Thursday that it has about 100 fire fighters fighting the fire with six fire engines and 13 support vehicles.
About 250 essential Shell personnel are also on Pulau Bukom helping with the operations.
The company also said that the six Shell firefighters injured while fighting the initial outbreak have gone back to their normal duties following medical attention.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Fire still burns at Shell Singapore refinery
(Picture from asiaone.com)SINGAPORE - A fire continued to burn on Thursday at Royal Dutch Shell's largest refinery, its 500,000 barrel-a-day Singapore plant, but the blaze is under control, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said.
The fire started in the plant on an island off Singapore's shores on Wednesday, forcing Shell to close a hydrocracking unit that helps make diesel fuel, as a safety measure.
"Fire-fighting operations are still underway," the Singapore Civil Defence (SCDF) said in a statement early on Thursday.
"There are about 100 SCDF fire-fighters fighting the fire with six fire engines and 13 support vehicles. About 250 essential Shell personnel are also on Pulau Bukom."
Shell could not immediately be reached for comment. In a statement issued earlier, Shell said the fire had been contained and that it had accounted for all staff.
Crude processing units at the plant, which make up more than a third of the island nation's total refining capacity, were running at a reduced rate, Shell said on Wednesday.
Production units at the refinery near the blaze were shut as a precaution. Shell said in the process of the closure a larger flare would be visible. The flare was no cause for alarm, as no toxic vapours were being released, Shell said.
One Shell firefighter suffered a superficial injury, and five others had heat exhaustion and pulled muscles, it added.
MARKET IMPACT
Since Singapore is the world's largest market for fuel oil and Asia's hub for crude and refined product trading, regional prices could take a hit from any disruptions that might arise from the fire, as some capacity has already been taken offline.
Late on Wednesday, Shell said it would continue to supply Singapore's fuel markets with products from storage and other refineries, so the company expects no shortages in the market.
Refinery sources said the fire occurred where finished oil products are transferred from the final production unit into storage tanks by being pumped through pipelines.
Shell is operating its ethylene cracker normally at the plant. The ethylene cracker is typically fed by products from the hydrocracking unit that was shut due to the fire. The company is supplying alternative feedstock to the ethylene cracker to keep it running, Shell had said.
Shell, one of the biggest naphtha traders and suppliers in Asia, sold an unusually heavy volume of at least 40,000 tonnes of prompt October/November naphtha swaps on Wednesday, traders said.
The smoke plume generated from the fire has not affected Singapore so far, the National Environment Agency said. In a statement it said it was keeping close watch on the situation and asked the public not to be alarmed.
Source: www.asiaone.com
Fire at Shell Bukom
Pictures from Asiaone.comReuters
Wednesday, Sep 28, 2011
SINGAPORE - A fire has intensified at Royal Dutch Shell’s Singapore refinery, the company’s largest, a senior company executive said on Wednesday.
“There is a fire and it grew significantly, but I am not aware of an explosion,” said Lee Tzu Yang, chairman for Shell Companies in Singapore.
“My understanding is that there are no people injured.”
A Shell spokesman had initially said that the fire at the 500,000 barrels per day refinery, which broke out at around 0515 GMT, had been contained.
Eyewitnesses said explosions were heard and the fire worsened at the plant on Bukom Island. A dark cloud of smoke could be seen over mainland Singapore and the Jurong Island oil hub.
“The smoke has become much thicker and flames are rising up five to eight storeys every 15-20 minutes,” said a Reuters eyewitness.
Refinery sources said the fire occurred at an area where clean oil products were pumped from the plant’s secondary units via pipelines into storage tanks and into the wharf area for discharge into tankers as well as for loading.
Shell did not give any details on what operations have been affected. The complex, situated on the island of Pulau Bukom, comprises a 500,000 barrels-per-day refinery and an 800,000 tonnes-per-year cracker.
Source: www.asiaone.com
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