Kuwait: Blast Reported At Oil Refinery

A conflagration has engulfed Kuwait’s Shuaiba oil refinery, forcing the strategic facility to stop operations, according to the country’s oil authorities.

The smallest of Kuwait’s three major oil installations, Shuaiba yields a fifth of the country’s daily oil production of about 930,000 barrels. Kuwait is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum-Exporting Countries (OPEC).

An official at state refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) also confirmed that Monday’s fire led to the total shutdown of the Shuaiba facility, but said the incident had no casualties.

Kuwait’s official KUNA agency quoted Ahmed al-Jemaz, the acting chief executive of the KNPC, as saying that the fire broke out in the heavy oil unit of the refinery. Jemaz said all employees were evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Original article