ISTANBUL: A fire broke out at Turkish oil refiner Tupras’ refinery in the northwestern province of Kocaeli, a company spokeswoman said on Wednesday, adding that production had not been halted and technical teams were working to put it out.
“Our operations are continuing with no interruption,” the spokeswoman said. Television footage from Dogan News Agency showed large plumes of dark smoke curling up from the plant, located in the town of Izmit.
“There has been a flaring in the technical equipment. It started at 1515 (1315 GMT) local time,” the spokeswoman said.
The refinery can process around 11 million tonnes of crude per year and has a storage capacity of 2.91 million cubic meters. Izmit Bay is also a key shipping hub for Turkey’s crude imports.
Sole Turkish refiner Tupras, owned by Turkey’s biggest conglomerate Koc Holding, has a total of four refineries across Turkey with over 28 million tonnes of crude processing capacity.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by David Dolan)
Reuters
