Fire at Petronas refinery in Malaysia

AN explosion and fire occurred at the Pengerang Integrated Complex (PIC) in Johor, Malaysia, a refinery being developed by Petronas.

The explosion and fire occurred at 01:25 local time on 12 April at the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project at the PIC. The incident was attended by the Petronas RAPID Pengerang emergency response team, consisting of five fire trucks and 30 staff, and the fire was put out within half an hour. The fire occurred at the atmospheric residue desulfurisation (ARDS) unit, which is currently in commission stage. Two security guards were injured and received outpatient treatment, and no fatalities were reported. More than ten nearby houses were reported to have been damaged, according to the Malaysian national news agency Bernama.

“Teams have been set up and are currently working closely with the relevant authorities to investigate the cause of the incident,” Petronas said in a statement. “We wish to assure members of the public that the situation is under control and there is no health-related risk to this incident.”

The US$27bn RAPID project will have the capacity to produce 300,000 bbl/d of crude, and the integrated petrochemical complex will have a combined production capacity of 3.6m t/y. It is expected to come online later this year.