Oil refinery catches fire in western Turkey

İZMİR

DHA Photo

A Turkish Petroleum Refineries Company (TÜPRAŞ) refinery in the Aegean province of İzmir caught on fire, with a 160-liter oil tank lying along its production stream, Doğan News Agency reported on July 17.

The fire was extinguished after local firefighters, along with technical staff from the Petrochemical Corporation (PETKİM), headquartered in the northern province of Kocaeli, helped bring the fire under control with chemical fire extinguishers at the facility, located in İzmir’s Aliağa district.

TÜPRAŞ Aliağa Oil Refinery Management Head Bayram Yılmaz told state-run Anadolu Agency that a malfunction in the refinery’s electrical systems had caused the fire. Thus, “an explosion and fire ripped through the oil tanks at the facility,” he said.

The refinery would continue its production and sales operations as scheduled, he said.

The cause of the fire was announced after an inspection of the Aliağa facility.

TÜPRAŞ operates four oil refineries in the country, with an annual crude oil processing capacity of 28.1 million tons a year.

TÜPRAŞ authorities said in a written statement that a fire erupted at 10:50 a.m. at TÜPRAŞ’s İzmir refinery because of “illegal” or improper electrical wiring. They also said the security personnel of the refinery immediately stepped in, extinguishing the fire within a short time and adding that the fire posed no danger to the environment and public health.