Fire Erupts at Exxon's Baytown complex; 37 Hurt

Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Exxon Mobil Corp said it was fighting a fire that erupted on Wednesday at its Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex injuring 37 people and sending nearby residents indoors.

As many as 37 people were being treated for non-life threatening injuries amid efforts to put out the fire, according to Exxon spokeswoman Sarah Nordin. Available air monitoring information showed "no adverse impact at this time," she said.

More than three dozen people were treated for minor burns, none requiring hospitalization, said plant manager Jason Duncan in an afternoon media briefing. The company was still working to shut down the olefins unit which processes propane and propylene - a plastics building block - and isolate the fuel keeping the fire burning, he said.


The fire, which was being fought by the company's employees, sent black smoke into the air over the complex in the Houston suburb. Firefighters and equipment from the city entered the plant at midday as smoke and flames continued to billow, a Reuters eyewitness at the scene said.

Baytown fire department referred questions to Exxon.

Residents around the plant were told to shelter in place, according to a Baytown emergency management official. Schools in several communities in the area kept summer students indoors. The city of 75,000 people is located about 30 miles (48 km) east of Houston.

The company said in a tweet it was in the process of accounting for employees at the site and was conducting air quality monitoring inside the facility.

The Baytown facility employs about 7,000 people among its four manufacturing sites and covers 3,400 acres (13.8 square kilometers). It sits along the Houston Ship Channel, the nation's largest energy port.

Aerial footage showed flames and heavy smoke emanating from a large column at the facility, which Exxon identified as part of its production of olefins, a component of plastic. Emergency vehicles and people were massing around the edge of the complex.

"The unit affected processes light hydrocarbons including propane and propylene," wrote Exxon spokeswoman Nordin. "We are cooperating with regulatory agencies. We deeply regret any disruption or inconvenience that this incident may have caused the community."

Exxon last year completed the construction of a multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker at the Baytown Olefins Plant. The cracker can produce 1.5 million tons per year, and provides feedstock to two other production lines at its Mont Belvieu, Texas, plastics plant.

Spot prices for U.S. Gulf Coast CBOB gasoline rose on Wednesday following news of the fire, traders said.

Reporting by Erwin Seba

Categories: Ports Salvage Casualties

Related Stories

VARD Snags $125M Shipbuilding Deal for Subsea Construction Vessel

Marine Masters Secures Wellhead Platforms Installation Job Off India

MODEC and Samsung Team Up to Install Carbon Capture Tech on FPSO

Europe's Gas Uncertainty Help Drive Asian LNG Spot Prices Higher

Saipem’s Castorone Vessel on Its Way to Türkiye’s Largest Gas Field

Flare Gas Recovery Meets the Future

TotalEnergies Wraps Up Acquisition of SapuraOMV’s Gas Assets

Sunda Energy Closing in on Jack-Up Deal for Chuditch-2 Appraisal Well

OPEC+ Passes on Oil Output Increase, Weighs the "Trump Effect"

Sembcorp Signs 10-Year LNG Supply Contract with Chevron

Current News

Eneos Scoops Jack-Up Drilling Contract Offshore Vietnam

Vietnam to Open Bidding Round for Three Offshore Oil Blocks

VARD Snags $125M Shipbuilding Deal for Subsea Construction Vessel

Mitsui’s STATS Lands Malaysian Pipeline Isolation Job

INEOS Wraps Up Acquisition of CNOOC’s US Oil and Gas Assets

Fire at Petronas Gas Pipeline in Malaysia Sends 63 to Hospital

Japan’s ENEOS Xplora, PVEP Ink Deal for Vietnam Offshore Block

CNOOC Makes Major Oil and Gas Discovery in South China Sea

Valeura’s Assets in Gulf of Thailand Remain Operational After Earthquake

Op-Ed: Kazakhstan’s National O&G Firm Positioning Itself as Global Energy Player

Subscribe for AOG Digital E‑News

AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week

https://accounts.newwavemedia.com