Fire Outbreak At Warri Refinery

A massive explosion, caused by crude spillage from one of the tanks at the Warri Refinery yesterday resulted in an inferno that gutted part of the ailing refinery yesterday. Although no life was lost, vessels on the Ubeki Creek, including badges and boats and other valuables, were said to have been torched as the ravaging fire spread over to the Warri River, where the oil vessels were berthing.

ThisDay checks revealed that the spillage of crude from the tank which spread towards the river resulted in the massive explosions which reportedly razed some property belonging to the communities. Rescue operations were said to have come late thereby making the fire to spread far.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has commenced a full scale investigation to ascertain the cause of the inferno. The Warri Refinery, with production capacity of 125 barrel per day (bpd) of crude and the 110 bpd Kaduna Refinery had been shut down since February last year after militants from the Niger Delta region blew up their feeder pipeline at Escravos.