AmericasOffshore

Pemex says gradual reopening of fire-damaged Salina Cruz refinery is under way

Mexico’s state oil firm has announced it is beginning to reopen its Salina Cruz refinery which was shut down because of a fire there in mid-June, according to Reuters.

The June 14 fire at the refinery in the southern state of Oaxaca occurred after flooding that resulted from Tropical Storm Calvin.

That flooding reached the containment dam of a crude oil storage tank, causing an oil spill which caught fire and spread to the refinery’s pumping room.

One person died from injuries in the fire, and several other people were hurt.

With a daily output of 330,000 barrels per day when operating, Salina Cruz is Mexico’s largest refinery.

Output should resume around the weekend as processes are gradually restarted over the next few days.

Pemex has estimated it would need to import 3.5m barrels of gasoline to make up for the loss of Salina Cruz over this month-and-a-half.

Donal Scully

With 28 years experience writing and editing for newspapers in the UK and Hong Kong, Donal is now based in California from where he covers the Americas for Splash as well as ensuring the site is loaded through the Western Hemisphere timezone.
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