Pemex’s Madero Refinery Storage Tank Explodes, Authorities Evacuate 2,000By Carlos Manuel Rodriguez – Jul 29, 2010 10:46 PM CDT
About 2,000 people were evacuated by Mexican authorities after an explosion and fire at a coker unit gasoline storage tank at Petroleos Mexicanos’s Francisco I. Madero refinery on the Gulf of Mexico.
The blaze was under control at 6:30 p.m. local time yesterday, said a Pemex spokesman, who asked not to be identified in accordance with company policy. No other facilities at the refinery were damaged, he said.
The people were moved by authorities in the Tampico area after the blast and are likely to start returning to their homes within hours, the spokesman for the state-owned oil company said.
The refinery has a capacity to process 195,000 barrels of crude a day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Carlos M. Rodriguez in Mexico City at carlosmr@bloomberg.net.
