Blast causes partial disruption at Kuwait refinery

KUWAIT CITY (AFP) – A fire sparked by a gas pipeline blast caused a partial disruption at one of Kuwait’s three oil refineries but exports by the oil-rich emirate were not affected, officials said.

“An explosion happened at around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) at a high pressure gas line that caused a fire. The situation is under control,” Mohammed al-Ajmi, spokesman for Kuwait National Petroleum Company which owns the refineries, told AFP.

There were no casualties, he added.

The blast at Shuaiba refinery, 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Kuwait City, was caused by a leak in a gas pipeline, KNPC chairman Sami al-Rasheed told the official KUNA news agency.

He said that production was reduced in some of the units.

AFP