Saskatchewan refinery hit by explosion

Dec. 27, 2013
An explosion and subsequent fire occurred on Dec. 24 at Consumers’ Cooperative Refineries Ltd.’s (CCRL) 130,000-b/d refining complex in Regina, Sask.

An explosion and subsequent fire occurred on Dec. 24 at Consumers’ Cooperative Refineries Ltd.’s (CCRL) 130,000-b/d refining complex in Regina, Sask.

Early indications showed that the fire, which was contained and extinguished by the refinery’s on-site fire crews, was started by an explosion of liquefied petroleum gas, according to a Dec. 24 post to Twitter by Gerard Kay, deputy chief of operations for Regina Fire and Protective Services.

With both the fire and resulting damages still under investigation, there is no indication yet as to what impact the incident will have on production at the refinery.

Earlier in the year, CCRL, a wholly owned subsidiary of Federated Cooperatives Ltd., confirmed it had completed a 3-year, $2.7 billion expansion at the refinery (OGJ Online, June 5, 2008; Oct. 25, 2007).

The Section V expansion project added five new processing units at the plant as well as additional storage and instrument systems, CCRL said in an Oct. 17 release.