Petromidia refinery remains down, minister says no fuel disruptions

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – Romania's energy minister said there will be no disruption to fuel supplies in the country following a blast at Eastern Europe's biggest refinery on Friday that killed one worker and injured five others.

The blast, which was said to have originated from the diesel hydrotreating unit, has shut down operations at the 120,000-bpd refinery until further notice.

""From the data we have today, I don't think there will be problems with the stocks. I also talked to the representatives of OMV Petrom, who are in constant contact with Petromidia, and they do not see any problems either," Virgil Popescu told local media.

"This is the analysis at the moment, but the effects depend on the damages that will be registered at the Petromidia refinery and how long it will be closed," he said.

The storage tanks were said to be unaffected from the fire.

However, photos from the blast site showed extensive damage to at least one processing unit. 

The refinery was said to be operating at 84% of capacity at the time of the explosion.