By Tuesday afternoon, the fire at MOL Danube Refinery’s AV3 plant had been completely extinguished. The fire broke out on Monday night at the refinery in Százhalombatta (near Budapest). The company’s Tuesday afternoon announcement stated that production is gradually resuming, thus ensuring Hungary’s fuel supply.
Domestic fuel supplies are secure even after the fire in Százhalombatta, a spokesperson for MOL Hungary said at a press conference in Budapest on Tuesday. She added that disaster management authorities had not measured any levels exceeding health limits in the air in the area.
Piroska Bakos recalled that a fire broke out on Monday night in the AV3 distillation plant of MOL Danube Refinery. The fire was localized by firefighters, no injuries were reported, and the cause of the accident is being investigated. In parallel with the damage assessment, the plant units not affected by the fire are gradually being restarted, she stated.
Krisztián Pulay, managing director of the MOL Group, emphasized that
no evidence had been found to suggest that any external influence had contributed to the outbreak of the fire. Furthermore, there is no connection between the explosion at the Romanian oil refinery and the fire at the Danube Refinery.
Responding to questions from journalists, Krisztián Pulay said that the fire broke out in one of the refinery’s three distillation plants. This is where crude oil first enters the refining process, where the raw material is separated into different components according to boiling point, which are then sent to different plants for further processing.
Photo: MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
He emphasized that 120 people work in the plant group, with 20 people per shift, and no one was injured before, during, or after the fire. He also refuted reports in the press that there had been an explosion at the plant. He said that
in an emergency, the gases produced are released into a flare, which produces a loud noise. This noise may have been perceived as an explosion in the surrounding area,
he explained.
They believe that the fire will not affect the supply chain, but they will be able to say for sure once the damage has been assessed.
Finally, he emphasized that the unit affected by the fire is important, but not critical to the refinery as a whole. After the emergency shutdown ordered due to the fire and the fire was brought under control, the company’s employees began restarting the refinery.
Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Hegedüs Róbert
The post Domestic Fuel Supply Unaffected by Refinery Fire, MOL Assures appeared first on Hungary Today.
