Blast rocks Imperial Oil refinery in Ontario
Source: Reuters
(Adds comment and closing shares) By Scott Haggett CALGARY, Alberta, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Imperial Oil Ltd. <IMO.TO> said on Thursday it is still investigating the cause of an early morning explosion and fire at its refining complex in Sarnia, Ontario, that ripped through a unit there but injured no one. The blast at the hydrocracking unit of the 121,000 barrel a day refinery woke residents in the southwestern Ontario city at about 3 a.m. (0800 GMT) local time. The fire was isolated in the 18,000 barrel a day unit. The rest of the refining and chemical complex is operating normally, an Imperial spokesman said. "The major production units are unaffected and running at capacity," Pius Rolheiser told Reuters. "Thankfully there were no injuries and all our employees are accounted for." Television pictures showed thick black smoke and orange flames billowing from the complex of tubes and pipes that make up the refinery complex. Rolheiser said Imperial was going to let the fire burn itself out. He added that the company is monitoring air quality outside the complex. No harmful emissions have been found. The hydrocracker makes ingredients for gasoline, diesel and lubricants. The fire was brought under control by the afternoon on Thursday and the company said it is still assessing if the blaze would have any longer-term impact on supplies of gasoline and other refined products. Imperial, 70 percent owned by U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corp. <XOM.N>, has operated at the site on the southern tip of Lake Huron since 1897. The company's complex, one of several refineries and chemical operations in the region, produces gasoline, jet fuel, diesel, lubricants and other products. "We have almost 40 percent of Eastern Canada's chemical industry here," said Mike Bradley, Sarnia's mayor. "Imperial's plant is closest to the downtown ... but they have a good safety record." Imperial shares rose 10 Canadian cents to C$44.64 on Thursday after sliding lower for much of the day as investors pondered the costs of the fire. "They put out a lot of relatively high margin products there," said Martin Molyneaux, an analyst at FirstEnergy Capital Corp. in Calgary. "It boils down to the extent of the damages, the cost to repair and the downtime." ($1=$1.16 Canadian)
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