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Highly inflammable products likely to have caused small fires in Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries.
The first fire broke out in a generator at Shuaiba South power plant.
KUWAIT CITY - Small fires at a power plant supplying oil installations in oil-rich southern Kuwait, and at two refineries, halted production at the emirate’s three oil refineries, an official said Tuesday.
The first fire broke out at around 9:45 p.m. (1845 GMT) Monday in a generator at Shuaiba South power plant, followed by small fires at Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries, public relations chief at Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) Ahmad al-Mudhaf said.
"The fires at Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah refineries were put out only a few hours after they broke out" Mudhaf said.
He did not know if the fires caused any damage, but added they were "very small" and started when operations were halted at the emirate’s three refineries after power supply was cut off, Mudhaf added.
The fires at the two refineries broke out immediately after production was halted, apparently because of the presence of highly inflammable products in some units. No fire was reported at Shuaiba refinery.
At Shuaiba South power plant, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Kuwait City, a source said a major transformer responsible for the power supply to the refineries was knocked out and required several hours to repair.
The three refineries have a combined capacity of more than 900,000 barrels per day (bpd), representing almost half of Kuwait’s OPEC output quota.
Al-Ahmadi refinery, Kuwait’s largest, resumed full operations only a few months ago after repair of major damage sustained when a gas leak caused a blast that ripped through the facility in June 2000, killing seven people and injuring more than 50.
Days earlier, two technicians were killed and four others hurt in a gas leak at Shuaiba refinery.
A smaller fire broke out in Al-Ahmadi refinery in April 2002, causing limited material damage and no casualties.
The halt in the three refineries was not expected to have an impact on Kuwait’s exports of refined products in the short term. The oil-rich emirate has stocks of refined products for export in several gathering centers.
Only a prolonged stoppage would disrupt Kuwaiti exports of refined products, the bulk of which is destined for world markets.
Part of the refined products are sold on the local market. Kuwait is considering a plan to build a fourth refinery.
Kuwait is also currently supplying Iraq and US forces there with more than two million liters of petrol a day.
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