CRUDE OIL FIRE CAUSES EXPLOSION State-controlled oil company YPF said an explosion at a tank farm in the western Argentine province of Mendoza injured 14 people. Media reports, however, said 17 people were injured in Saturdays explosion. The explosion was caused by a fire that started on Friday night at the Cerro Divisadero complex, located about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) west of Buenos Aires. Firefighters continued working on Saturday evening to put out the blaze and barriers were erected to keep crude from flowing into the Rio Grande. The cause of the fire in the tank, which contained 10,000 cubic meters of petroleum, is under investigation, YPF said in a statement. The Cerro Divisadero complex holds the production from 10 fields in the Malargue area, which accounts for 3.8 percent of YPFs production, the company said. Argentinas government took control of YPF in May 2012, when Congress approved the expropriation of a 51 percent stake in the company from Spains Repsol. Repsol retains a 12 percent stake in YPF, Argentinas largest oil producer. Argentina and Repsol recently reached an agreement on compensation for the expropriation, but the deal must still be approved by the Argentine Congress and the Spanish oil companys shareholders.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 06:45:21 +0000
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