Search the Community

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/fire-at-shells-manufacturing-site-on-pulau-bukom-injures-six Pulau Bukom always a source of concern. 3 in critical condition after Pulau Bukom fire POSTED: 21 Aug 2015 22:32 SINGAPORE: Three people are in critical condition after a fire broke out at Shell's Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site on Friday (Aug 21). The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the fire at 6.15pm on Friday evening. The blaze was extinguished by the Company Emergency Response Team before SCDF arrived on the scene. Six contractor workers suffered burn injuries and were sent to the Singapore General Hospital (SGH). "Contrary to speculation, there is no SCDF personnel among the casualties," the civil defence force said on Facebook. Of the six workers injured, three have been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit, SGH confirmed. One is in stable condition, while the two have been discharged after receiving outpatient treatment. "We are following the progress and treatment of the other workers closely and are working with our contractors to ensure all possible support and assistance are rendered to the injured workers and their families. All other personnel are accounted for at the site," a Shell spokesperson said. Shell added that the fire was put out by the sites first emergency responders within an hour and said there is no other impact on the sites operations. The firm added that it is working with the Singapore Civil Defence Force to investigate the incident.

Fire said to be reduced then BOOMZ again Another explosion heard at Bukom SINGAPORE - An explosion was heard and seen at Pulau Bukom at noon today - just hours after Shell had announced in a press release that the chemical fires at the oil refinery island, which started at 1.15pm yesterday, had been "significantly reduced". Mr Ben Koh, who works at the PSA container port on the mainland across from Pulau Bukom, told Today he saw flames "suddenly shooting up from a distance" at around 12pm, accompanied by the sound of an explosion which he described as "an echoing boom". Since then, the smoke plume from the island has been visibly larger, said Mr Koh. The island is about 5km off the coast of Singapore. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed in a 12.30pm press release that "there has been a surge in the fire at the manufacturing facility", though the fire "is still contained within the bund wall" at the facility. Boundary cooling operations are being carried out using water jets, to prevent heat exposure to the storage tanks nearby, it added. Two fire engines had been "badly damaged" during fire fighting operations, while another sustained "partial damage", the SCDF said in its statement. No further injuries were reported. Earlier today, the SCDF said in a 6.30am press release that while 100 firefighters were still battling the fires, the situation was "under control". Six fire engines and 13 support vehicles were also at the site. The firefighters who had been working overnight were relieved and replaced by a fresh firefighting crew at 8am, the SCDF later added. In a 10am press release, Shell said it had "worked closely with the SCDF throughout the night to put out the fire at the Pulau Bukom Manufacturing Site", adding that "the fire has now been significantly reduced and is contained to within a bunded area". The six Shell firefighters who sustained minor injuries battling the blaze have gone back to their normal duties, said the oil company. "Staff have also reported for work at Pulau Bukom and controls have been put in place on movements in the affected areas to ensure their safety," it added. "Safety is our top priority. The units in the vicinity of the fire incident remain shut down as a precaution. As such we advise that a larger flare will be visible. The flare is a safety procedure and is no cause for alarm. There are no toxic vapours released." The National Environment Agency said in a public advisory on its website that no toxic gases have been detected on the mainland. The NEA has been "closely monitoring" ambient air quality since yesterday, it added. The increase in the three-hour PSI reading this morning (peaking at 68 at 8am) is due to smoke haze being blown over from South Sumatra, and not the Buko fires, an NEA source told Today.

(Recasts, adds market background, details, analyst comments) By Luke Pachymuthu and Chua Baizhen [/size] SINGAPORE, May 9 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell will shut its second-largest crude distillation unit (CDU) and two secondary units at its Singapore plant next month for routine maintenance, piling more pressure on tight global distillate supplies. The CDU No. 4, with a capacity of 115,000-130,000 barrels per day (bpd) on Bukom island, as well as a gasoline-making platforming unit, is set to shut in early June and run for about three weeks, refining sources said on Friday. The platformer can produce an estimated 6,000 bpd of gasoline. The turnaround on the hydrotreater -- one of the smallest among seven others that produce mainly ultra-low sulphur diesel and jet fuel -- will start around June 24 and last for about a month, the sources added. A Shell spokesman declined comment when contacted. The refiner does not normally comment on operational matters. While analysts and traders said the turnaround would have limited impact on the major's export plan as they would have stocked up in advance, it comes at a time when global oil prices are driven by the strength of distillates on growing demand for transport fuel in Europe and for power in emerging economies. "Any time you have a crude unit or other process units going down, even if it's planned... directionally it will support the market, especially since this is not a very good time for this to be happening," said Victor Shum of Purvin and Gertz. A recent strike at the UK's Grangemouth refinery and output problems at the Porvoo refinery diesel unit in Finland have also curbed supplies at a time of shortages in China, South Africa, Latin America and parts of the Middle East. Outages were also seen in Indonesia, where Pertamina has shut an 83,000-bpd gasoline-making unit at its Balongan refinery due to an outage, while Valero Energy Corp is undergoing regular shutdowns at its crude and vacuum units in Corpus Christi, Texas. On Friday, U.S. crude prices extended their rally to records of $124.92 per barrel, propelled by strong diesel demand and active buying by investment funds. London gas oil futures premium to Brent crude also jumped to a record of $31.28 a barrel on the rally in gas oil Asian gas oil cracks 1M-CK-commanded $33.15 a barrel on Friday, near the record $34.81 hit three weeks ago, as news of the maintenance added support to a market already bullish on Western arbitrage hopes and strong demand from China. BULLISH About 90 percent of refined oil products from Shell's 500,000-bpd mega-facility in Singapore, which has two other CDUs, are sold into regional markets. Traders estimate the three-week CDU shutdown would take between three and four medium-ranged (MR) tankers cargoes, or 90,000-120,000 tonnes, of diesel off the market in June. And with competing demand from Europe, which could see a rare East-West arbitrage opening up as early as next week, traders said Shell refinery's partial shutdown could help lift prices further. "You have to know that the market will act on anything these days. Diesel is driving the barrel, it is the reason why crude oil prices are rising like there is no tomorrow," said a Singapore-based trader with an oil major. While Shell's maintenance of the platforming unit should have little impact on Asian gasoline, the market is expected to tighten in coming weeks due to the Balongan residual fluid catalytic cracker (RFCC) outage. Eyes are also on strong Australian demand for gasoline in light of recent shutdowns and outages. The gasoline reforming margin SIN, or the premium that gasoline fetches to naphtha, rose for the fifth straight-session, up $2.31 to $19.68 a barrel. The refiner's Singapore facility, which is Shell's largest refining centre by crude-processing capacity, shut its Long Residue Catalytic Cracker (LRCC) in end-September for more than three months following an outage. At the time, Shell's fuel oil supplies were most affected, as most of the product was drawn off the LRCC's residues as well as from another unit, the 66,000-bpd thermal gas unit (TGU), which had been scheduled for a three-week turnaround in November. The TGU was restarted in early December. (Additional reporting by Seng Li Peng; Editing by Ramthan Hussain) http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/7508420