Blaze extinguished at Amuay refinery
28 Aug 2012
A fire that has blazed for three days at Venezuela’s largest oil refinery has been extinguished, according to the country’s energy minister Rafael Ramirez.
The fire at the 645,000-barrel-per-day Amuay facility is reported to have killed 48 people and left dozens injured.
The refinery is owned by state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. and is part of the Paraguana Refining Center.
It is thought to be the deadliest ever disaster at a Venezuelan refinery and has sparked debate around the safety of the country’s oil industry.
The precise cause of the initial explosion is not yet known, however government officials have indicated that it was the result of a gas leak.
It is suggested that none of Amuay’s processing units were hit by the blaze, however operations were shut down on Saturday for safety reasons.
Ramirez has predicted that the facility will be back online by Friday.
