Four Injured in Exxon Oil Refinery Fire

Four people were injured when a fire erupted Dec. 23 at an Exxon Mobil Corp complex in Baytown, Texas.

As one of the largest refining and petrochemical facilities in the United States, the site houses a chemical plant, an olefins plant and an oil refinery.

It has the capacity to process 560,500 barrels per day of crude. It is unclear as of today whether any units will be shut for an extended length of time.

The incident caused zero fatalities but injured four people. Two of four contract workers hospitalized with injuries were released after treatment. Two remain in the hospital in stable condition, the company said.

The cause of the blaze, which was extinguished in seven hours, has not been determined.

The fire occurred in a hydrotreater unit at the refinery that had been shut down on Wednesday due to a bypass line leak. The injured were contractors called in to repair the leak, reported people familiar to Reuters.

Hydrotreaters remove sulfur and other contaminants in producing diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. An Exxon official reported at a news conference that the fire affected a unit that produces gasoline.

Exxon has adjusted production rates at other Baytown processing units to focus on stabilizing the affected units, spokeswoman Julie King told Reuters.