BP: bad pipe caused Texas refinery blast
Posted on: Saturday, 30 July 2005, 04:51 CDT
HOUSTON (Reuters) - BP Plc.
It said a preliminary inspection found "evidence of internal cracking" in a thick steel pipe located between a compressor and heat exchanger in the third largest U.S. refinery, where 15 people died in an earlier blast on March 23.
The company, in a release put out late on Friday, said it would conduct a "full metallurgical analysis" to understand why the pipe failed on Thursday.
No one was hurt in the explosion, but it cut crude oil processing at the 460,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) refinery by 70,000 bpd, reduced gasoline output by 35,000 bpd and boosted crude oil prices by 63 cents a barrel to $60.57 a barrel on the NYMEX.
The company blamed the March 23 accident on employees failing to follow proper procedures, but labor union officials attributed it to bad design and management.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has been investigating the March 23 blast and said on Friday it would look into whether there are any links between the two explosions.
Source: REUTERS
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