Fire halts shipping from large Bonaire oil terminal

Friday, Sep 10, 2010

A fire halted shipping from a 12 million barrel crude and oil products storage terminal on the Caribbean island of Bonaire on Wednesday, the day after a deadly Mexican refinery blast rattled gasoline and diesel markets.

No ships were loading or unloading while the fire at a tank containing 200,000 barrels of naphtha was brought under control, said Asdrubal Chavez, head of refining at Venezuela's state-run PDVSA oil company, which owns the BOPEC terminal on the Dutch Antilles island, 50 miles (80 km) north of Venezuela.

"It was caused by an electrical storm. We are working to put it out. There are no injuries or fatalities. It is difficult to control the fire," said Chavez, PDVSA's head of refining.

There was little initial impact on oil prices, said energy analyst Phil Flynn of PFGBest Research in Chicago.

"The market reaction has been subdued so far and is likely to continue to be if it is contained to the naphtha tank - there's really a glut of naphtha out there in the market right now," said Flynn.

Source: World Maritime News