Pemex restarting Ciudad Madero refinery

July 24, 2014
Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is in the process of restarting units at its 190,000-b/d Francisco I. Madero refinery in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico, following a July 23 fire at the plant, the state-owned oil company said.

Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is in the process of restarting units at its 190,000-b/d Francisco I. Madero refinery in Ciudad Madero, Tamaulipas, Mexico, following a July 23 fire at the plant, the state-owned oil company said (OGJ Online, July 23, 2014).

The fire, which broke out in the MJN-T-510 gasoline storage tank, was fully extinguished at 5:50 p.m. local time, with the process of returning unidentified units at the refinery to normal operations initiated at 6:42 p.m., the company said.

As a preventative measure, Pemex said it is using water to continue cooling the walls of the storage tank, which contained about 90 bbl of crude oil at the time of the incident.

While no serious injuries have been reported, 2 workers suffered mild burns, while 21 others have undergone treatment for dehydration and physical exhaustion, the company said.

Neither the status of current operations at the refinery nor the specific units impacted as a result of the incident were disclosed.