Chevron refinery fire in Wales kills four workers
A storage tank explosion at Chevron’s Pembroke refinery in southwest Wales, UK, caused a fire, killing four contractors and seriously injuring another, officials said on Friday.
The refinery itself remained fully operational following the blast, company officials said.
Police representatives said the explosion occurred amid maintenance work at the refinery, and that an investigation was underway.
The identities of the deceased have yet to be released.
"We will take every step possible to determine the series of events that led to this tragic incident and ensure that any lessons learnt from it will be integrated into the business and shared with our industry partners," said Greg Hanggi, the refinery’s general manager.
News reports said the fire began around 6:20 p.m. local time on Thursday, and was extinguished shortly thereafter.
Earlier this year, Chevron agreed to sell the 220,000 bpd Pembroke refinery as well as other marketing and logistics assets in the UK and Ireland to Valero for $1.73 billion.
Valero officials said it was too early to know what effects, if any, the incident could have on the sale.
The Pembroke refinery employs about 1,400 people.
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