Fire broke out at Bangchak oil refinery

BANGKOK, Jan 14 – Fire broke out at 7am at Bangchak oil refinery in the Thai capital’s Sukhumvit Soi 64 but was brought under control, said Anusorn Sangnimnuan, president of Bangchak Petroleum Pcl.

Mr Anusorn said that the cause of the blaze was an irregularity of a hydrocracker — a unit in a petroleum refinery that reduces the size of long chain molecules and cyclic compounds under controlled conditions of heat –, pressure and a catalyst in the presence of hydrogen. Meanwhile, the fire and safety alarm system decelerated pressure immediately in the unit so fumes were emitted and huge flames were seen.

However, the fumes presented no threat of danger to the nearby community as a repair and fire response team brought the blaze under control within 30 minutes of the accident occurring. No injuries were reported.

A refinery unit for diesel production has been temporarily shut down. Meanwhile the company reduced the production levels of other units for two days, aiming to check systems in the refinery.

However, Mr Anusorn said that the accident will not affect quantity of oil sold by Bangchak as well as 2011 overall income of the company.

Following the accident, shares in the stock of state-controlled refiner Bangchak Petroleum Pcl (BCP) fell in Friday morning trade, down at 1.10 per cent at Bt18 as of a report at 11:02am. (MCOT online news)