Preparation work likely cause of Bukom fire

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) has found that the 32-hour-long fire at Shell's Pulau Bukom refinery was caused by preparation work for maintenance.

An investigation conducted by the MOM's Occupational Safety and Health Inspectorate found that a suction truck that was involved in siphoning residual oil through a pipeline could have cause a spark and ignited the oil, reported The Straits Times.

The fire eventually spread and became a lot bigger within the area of the pump house. The petroleum company has confirmed that it they have declared force majeure on a few clients as more investigations continue.
Force majeure is a clause used commonly in contracts that frees parties from liability when an uncontrollable event happens.
Shell's safety procedures are also under scrutiny by MOM.
There were no casualties resulting from the fire that started last Wednesday last until Thursday night.

Source: www.asiaone.com 4 Oct 2011

Traces of fuel vapour remain in affected area after Shell Bukom fire

<>Picture taken on 30 September. Foam used by firefighters in the vicinity of the pump house (photo taken from Shell Singapore website)<> <>SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) says traces of fuel vapour remain in the affected area, two days after the blaze at Shell's Pulau Bukom oil refinery was extinguished on Thursday after a 32-hour battle. The oil giant and authorities are monitoring the situation, and a fresh batch of firefighters was sent to the island on Saturday morning. Giving an update, Shell said foaming operations are continuing at parts of the incident site, with damage confined to the vicinity of the pump house. It added other facilities and units are not affected and only essential operating personnel are on the island. Shell said it's too early to assess how much the fire will cost the company. It said efforts are ongoing to bring the situation back to normal at the refinery, the company's biggest. The company does not expect any shutdown units to be restarted until a thorough investigation has been conducted and safety is assured. The Ministry of Manpower has stepped in to investigate the cause of the fire. Shell said it deeply regrets the incident and is talking to customers to address product supply and minimise any potential impact on them. Source: CNA/ir <>

Gov't probes cause of Bukom refinery fire

Smoke and flames rise from the Royal Dutch Shell's Pulau Bukom offshore petroleum complex in Singapore on Wednesday 28 September 2011. Another explosion occurred Thursday, 29 September 2011 around noon local time.

(AP Photo/Sharon Tan)

The government is investigating the cause of oil giant Shell's recent Pulau Bukom refinery fire, which saw more than 100 firefighters battling the erratic two-day blaze.

Two investigators from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) have been deployed to the island and are working with Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers.

The ministry said on Friday it would work with Shell to examine its safety framework and tighten safety standards to prevent another such occurrence, reported The Straits Times.

MOM officers are also looking for the cause of the fire, which began in the pump room that had interconnecting pipes with fuel compounds.

The fire, which started on Wednesday 1:15pm, was finally extinguished at 9:18pm on Thursday after 32 hours. The SCDF used water jets and foam to disperse traces of fuel vapor that was still in the air on Friday.

Six Shell firefighters who were injured while fighting the initial outbreak have gone back to their normal duties after medical treatment.

SCDF said it would keep 100 firefighters and 34 vehicles on the island as precaution.

Shell sources also confirmed with the paper that the refinery is still progressively shutting down but a spokesperson said no timeline has been given for how long it will continue or when the investigations will be completed.

Wire reports have reported that the shutdown could last a month.

Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affair Minister Teo Chee Hean visited the refinery for an hour on Friday. He told the paper there was good cooperation between SCDF and Shell, as well as in the industry.

"The fire has been extinguished. The key thing now is to make sure that it does not reignite, and the residual hydrocarbons from the fire are properly dealt with," he was quoted as saying.

"We also want to make sure that the risks are properly handled and reduced. Going forward, we should learn from the lessons and prevent the occurrence of such fires," he noted.

Pulau Bukom is Shell's largest refinery worldwide. It processes 500,000 barrels a day with 90 per cent of the products exported to the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

 

Source: Yahoo News

Shell may shut entire refinery at Pulau Bukom

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.