Romania LNG Stations Hit By Deadly Explosions

The Prefect of the Municipality of Bucharest has ordered checks on all 380 fuel and liquefied gas LNG stations in Bucharest, after two explosions on Saturday at an LNG station in Crevedia resulted in two deaths and dozens of injuries. The second explosion occurred during the intervention of firemen leaving two people dead and another 41 hospitalized. Some 27 firefighters were admitted to the Floreasca Emergency Hospital, several  in critical condition, while another eight patients were transported to specialist hospitals in Germany and Austria.

Initial investigations have determined transshipment from one tanker to another as the cause of the explosions while other tankers had technical problems. According to the National Agency for Environmental Protection, ANPM, the former LNG station at Crevedia should have been decommissioned in 2020 since its environmental license expired and it was not renewed. 

“We will assess the damage and provide support from the government’s reserve fund. I want to be very clear: all those directly or morally responsible for this tragedy will pay, regardless of who they are and what positions they hold. The law must be applied to the letter,” Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu wrote on his Facebook page on Sunday.

This year has witnessed several major accidents occur at oil and gas facilities. Earlier in the year, China's Panjin Haoye Chemical Co Ltd’s entire oil refinery and petrochemical complex was shut down after a huge explosion killed five people and left eight missing. According to Chinese state television, the explosion occurred when the plant was undergoing maintenance work at an alkylation facility. Xu Peng estimated that the Haoye facility was processing at 62.5% of its crude refining capacity of 130,000 barrels per day (bpd).

Back in June, two oil tankers collided in the Irkutsk region in Russia thanks to a captain operating under the influence of alcohol, causing oil spillage into a local river. According to Irkutsk governor Igor Kobzev, one tanker carrying 138 metric tons of gasoline sustained significant damage. The governor estimates that as many as 60 to 90 tons of fuel spilled into the Lena River, the world's 11th longest.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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