Moscow, August 22 - Neftegaz.RU. A fire has occurred at Port Hamilton Refining and Transportation (PHRT) refinery in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
Reuters reported this on August 22.
A fire broke out around 7:00 a.m. (11:00 GMT) on August 21, 2022.
The fire, broke out at the refinery within the petroleum coke conveyor loading system located outside and above the coke storage dome, is under control.
One firefighter with a minor burn.
PHRT personnel also patrolled neighboring communities with air monitoring equipment.
All air monitoring results were reported normal.
The PHRT refinery (formerly Limetree Bay refinery) was not operating at the time of the fire.
Until 2012 Limetree Bay refinery had a peak capacity of 650 thousand barrels per day, it was one of the largest refineries providing the US market.
The refinery was closed in 2012 but it briefly restarted in 2021 and paused operations due to environmental concerns.
At that moment, coke reserves were formed, which began to smolder in August 2022.
PHRT, consortium investors from U.S and Caribbean, bought the Limetree Bay refinery in January 2022.
In July 2022, amid fuel shortages, PHRT announced plans to restart the idle refinery.
Рroduction could resume by the 2Q23, at the initial stage the plant will produce 180 thousand barrels/day of products.
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Fire at St. Croix refinery under control
The fire broke out at the refinery within the petroleum coke conveyor loading system located outside and above the coke storage dome