Dec. 4 (Bloomberg) — A large fire erupted today in a pipeline at Royal Dutch Shell Plcs Pernis refinery in the Netherlands, Europes largest plant.
The fire broke out in a heavy-diesel pipeline at the refinery at 1:20 p.m. local time,Wim van de Wiel, a spokesman for The Hague-based company, said by phone. RTV Rijnmond earlier reported that the fire was in catalytic cracker Unit 2.
The pipeline has been blocked in and now the fire is under control, the spokesman said. It was heavy diesel oil that caught fire, he said, adding that no injuries were reported.
Shells Class A shares in London fell as much as 3.1 percent and last traded down 36 pence at 1,639 pence.
The refinery has a capacity of 416,000 barrels a day. The plants catalytic crackers can process 50,000 barrels of gasoline a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Shell closed one of its FCCs at Pernis in September to repair a fault. The plant was scheduled to resume operations at the end of November after the two-month halt, a person familiar with the situation who declined to be identified, said Nov. 20.
The refinery has had to delay at least twice the restart of a crude distillation unit, two people familiar with shutdown procedures said previously. The crude unit was also supposed to restart in late November.
Gasoline in Europe traded for $6.73 a barrel below crude oil as of 12:59 p.m. in London, compared with a discount of $6.02 yesterday, according to broker PVM Oil Associates Ltd.
To contact the reporter on this story: John Buckley in Amsterdam at[email protected]
Last Updated: December 4, 2008 09:53 EST
This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON
EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
