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Catastrophe Report 7
February 18th to August 7th 2005 |
Refinery explosion - US
| Territory: |
|
US |
| Region: |
|
Texas City, Texas |
| Date: |
|
23 March 2005 |
| Event: |
|
Refinery explosion |
| Impact: |
|
The explosion and resulting fire claimed 15 lives
and injured another 170 people. The blast was felt up to eight
kilometres away and the fire took two hours to extinguish. BP
expects to pay out US$700 million as a result of the explosion,
partly in legal and medical bills, and to pay for compensation
to the dead and injured and their families. As BP did not have
third-party insurance, other costs include US$40 million for
an investigation and US$200 million for repairs. Losses due
to business interruption are also estimated at US$200 million
for every quarter until the plant is once again fully operational. |
| Summary: |
|
BP’s Texas City refinery is the third
largest in the United States, processing more than 433,000 barrels
of oil a day and providing around three percent of the US petrol
supply. The explosion was caused by a pressure build-up in a
unit used to produce Octane for petrol, and is blamed on poor
supervision and a failure to follow proper procedures. The number
of dead and injured was exacerbated by the failure to sound
an alarm and by the proximity of temporary workers housing units.
The refinery has a history of poor safety performance. In March,
2004, the plant was evacuated after another explosion that led
to the company being fined US$63,000, while in September 2004,
two workers were killed and another seriously injured by an
escape of high-pressure steam. |
| Data sources: |
|
Business Telegraph
http://business.telegraph.co.uk/
BBC News
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4557201.stm |
| Additional sources:
|
|
CNN Money
http://money.cnn.com/2005/07/26/news/international/bp.reut/
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