Fire injures “a number of people” at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery
19 October 2021
A fire broke out at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery on October 18 and injured several people. The incident occurred at the Kuwait National Petroleum Company’s (KNPC) Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery on the Persian Gulf coastline just south of Kuwait City.
Image: KNPC
The state-owned KNPC said that the fire was contained and later extinguished after firefighters attended the scene. The fire was an isolated incident and has not impacted the refinery’s electrical supply or oil exports, the company added.
The fire reportedly broke out at the refinery’s atmospheric residue desulphurisation (ARDS) unit. Several people suffered minor injuries, including smoke inhalation, and received treatment at the site. Some of the injured required treatment at hospital, but the KNPC said they were in a stable condition.
Via a series of tweets, the KNPC CEO Waleed Al-Bader said that: “Anyone who knows the oil industry is undoubtedly aware that it sometimes involves potential risks resulting from the nature of its operations and tasks, as it is one of the major industries, in which highly flammable materials are dealt with, and with huge mechanisms and equipment of great complexity and accuracy.
“I would like to note the high level of professionalism with which the process of combating this fire was carried out, and complete control over it in record time, as it reflected the extent of the efficiency and ability of our employees to face such emergency situations, as well as the accuracy and superiority of the safety systems and procedures approved by the company.”
“In order to ensure the safety of our employees, and to ensure that the company’s operations run regularly and in a safe environment, a technical committee has been formed according to the procedures followed, to find out the causes of this accident, and to avoid its non-recurrence in the future, and to benefit from its lessons in re-evaluating security and safety systems.”
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