No victims after explosion at Romania’s largest oil refinery

An explosion occurred Friday morning, March 29, at Romania’s Petromidia Refinery, but no casualties have been reported.

Authorities activated the Red Intervention Plan but soon deactivated it since no victims were reported on the premises. Six firefighter vehicles will remain on-site to surveil the area.

"Currently, Rompetrol Rafinare is conducting a comprehensive overhaul of the Petromidia refinery. Activities and operations are suspended for maintenance, recertification, and modernization of production units. As a result, this morning, there was an ignition in the Gasoline Hydrotreating (HB) installation. It has been extinguished, and there are no casualties; the situation is under the control of the intervention forces, which are currently cooling down the installation, following specific procedures," the company stated in a press release cited by News.ro.

"Twenty people have been evacuated. There are no casualties so far, and the rest of the personnel self-evacuated to the assembly area on the platform," stated ISU Dobrogea spokesperson Ana Maria Stoica. The initial explosion was not followed by a fire.

Petromidia is Romania’s largest oil refinery.

In early July 2021, an explosion at Petromidia resulted in the deaths of three workers. In June 2023, a firefighter was injured in a fire at the diesel distillation facility at the refinery.

(Photo source: Rompetrol KMG International on Facebook)