Two workers die at PetroSA GTL refinery

TWO workers have been killed at PetroSA’s Mossel Bay gas-to-liquids refinery in South Africa.

The two employees – a mechanical fitter and an operator – were killed on Tuesday as they worked on a vessel, PetroSA said. The two lost consciousness during the work and despite medical efforts to save them emergency responders were unable to revive them, the company said.

The Chemical Engineer pressed for further details surrounding the incident, including the type of vessel and the chemicals it contained, but a spokesperson declined to comment, adding only that the company would wait for the findings of the incident investigation.

“We will fully cooperate with all investigations into the incident. At PetroSA strict adherence to safety is sacrosanct and we therefore wish to quickly get to the bottom of how this tragedy occurred. We must prevent any such occurrences in future,” Kholly Zono, PetroSA acting group CEO said in an emailed statement.

“This tragedy greatly saddens us. Our employees are also traumatised by the loss that has afflicted us. More importantly we wish to extend our condolences to the families of the two colleagues,” he added.

The 45,000 bbl/d Mossel Bay plant was the world’s first GTL refinery. It was commissioned in 1992, and is now the third largest among five operating worldwide. Using Fischer-Tropsch technology, it converts methane-rich natural gas sourced from offshore fields in South Africa into synthetic fuels.