Beware of any fire and take it seriously but be more aware of oil refinery fires because they can cause extensive damage to installations, loss of life and health hazards to the neighbourhood.

The latest in the news is the August 6 fire at Richmond refinery, one of the largest in the US in the San Francisco Bay area. The fire resulted in thousands of residents being sent to hospital for treatment of inhalation of what may have been toxic releases or other breathing problems caused by the heavy smoke which engulfed the area. Large numbers of people coming up to thousands are already filing legal claims for compensation.

By its nature crude oil and petroleum products streams contain contaminants especially when in the process of refining and not yet finished. In an accident the fire is uncontrolled and all sorts of reactions and releases may intensify the problems for people around.

Although the blaze in Richmond was contained within a day without loss of life, it was described as a near catastrophe for what might have happened to a large number of workers in the vicinity treating a leaking pipe who withdrew just in time. The fact that the incident started at 6.30pm may have made firefighting more difficult during the night.

The refinery was processing up to 240,000 barrels of crude oil a day and therefore was central to the supply of products in California and gasoline prices have shot up to more than $4 (Dh14.6) a gallon, well above prices in other states due to the fact that supplies from other states do not meet the stringent qualities of California gasoline. Other refineries may supply some of the products lost but this remains to be seen as the repairs may take months to bring the plant back into operation and repairs will not start before investigations are complete.

Just like most refinery fires, the incident started with a simple problem of a leaking pipe carrying a very hot product and before the operators had an idea of what to do the pipe exploded and the fire spread to the rest of the main processing unit. Investigators later found that the line was about 40-years-old, corroded and should have been replaced earlier.

Residents of the area and environmental groups had been in contention with the Richmond refinery because of its closeness to well-populated cities and towns and were able in 2008 to stop a project to expand and upgrade the refinery by taking legal action. This should be a lesson to others to phase out old refineries especially when they are situated so near to populous cities. I am at least aware of one almost 60-year-old refinery very close to the centre of a six million people city which is being expanded and upgraded. It is not good for the city of course but it is expedient for those running the industry there.

The history of refining is full of similar or more severe incidents because the safety process is not managed properly starting from the design stage of the plant to the daily running of production.

Reputation tarnished

Another old refinery in Philadelphia which was built in 1906 caught fire in 1975, killing eight people and injuring 14 due to a fire caused by the ignition of vapours coming out from a very old storage tank. In 2005 15 people were killed and more than 100 injured during an explosion at a BP oil refinery in Texas City where the refinery was being restarted after maintenance, an incident which in addition to others tarnished BP’s safety reputation. The Feyzin refinery in France was severely damaged in 1966 after a small mistake in draining a liquid petroleum gas (LPG) spherical tank. The resulting vapours were ignited by a passing car 160 metres away and the storage sphere was enveloped in a fierce fire and eventually ruptured, killing 18 people and injuring 81 others and destroying five more tanks.

These incidents must make us aware in this part of the world of the risks involved in the refineries and other hydrocarbon facilities. Every effort should be made to locate plants in the right place and to provide them with the utmost protection including the intensive training of operators, maintenance and firefighting personnel. The organisation of fire brigades cannot rely on the plants independently but they need a high degree of coordination and disaster planning with other civil defence brigades. The industry in our region may be relatively new but let us make use of the painful experience of others rather than repeat their mistakes.

— The writer is former head of the Energy Studies Department at the Opec Secretariat in Vienna.