Petrom examines contractor’s role in blast at Romanian refinery

10 April 2012 16:26  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--Petrom has started an investigation into an external contractor’s observance of contractual safety rules following the 6 April small explosion at its Petrobrazi refinery in Romania, the company said on Tuesday.

Six employees of the contractor were slightly injured in the incident during maintenance works being conducted on the sewerage system of the refinery in Ploiesti near Bucharest, but have since been discharged from hospital, it added

“The incident did not lead to a refinery stoppage … [and] at no moment was there a fire risk, as the incident occurred far away from the refinery installations,” said Ramona Zanfirescu, a spokeswoman for Petrom.

Initial media reports regarding the explosion incorrectly described the injured workers as OMV Petrom employees.

Petrom is a subsidiary of Austrian oil, gas and petrochemical group OMV.

Petrobrazi is Petrom’s sole operating refinery. Crude processing at the company’s other refinery, Arpechim, was discontinued in 2010, although the Romanian state hopes it might be bought by the investor who wins the privatisation round for the Oltchim chemical company in order to restore feedstock lines.

By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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