http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990513/ts/oil_explosion_1.html

Thursday May 13 2:50 PM ET

Five Injured In Texas Refinery Explosion

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (Reuters) - Five people were injured and taken to hospital Thursday after an explosion and fire at a Coastal Corp. (NYSE:CGP - news) oil refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Coastal Corp. spokesman Greg Clock said the explosion at the 100,000 barrel per day refinery occurred at about 1100 CDT but he could not immediately provide further details.

Corpus Christi Police Sergeant Judy Patton said five people were taken to a local hospital for treatment but she did not have details of their injuries or condition.

How many does that make now?,,never mind, it's normal to blow them up, happens all the time.

-- CT (ct@no.yr), May 13, 1999

Answers

I bet this loss was insured. I bet any refinery business interruption in January through June 2000 will not be insured.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), May 13, 1999.

Yahoo is also reporting a fire (initial explosion possible but unknown at this thime) in South Korea at the Ulsen refinery, the world's largest.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/wl/story.html?s=v/nm/19990513/wl/korea_refinery_fire_1.html

"Korean Refinery, World's Biggest, Hit By Fire

SEOUL (Reuters) - A large-scale fire had broken out SK Corp's heavy oil upgrading (HOU) plant in the southeastern Korean city of Ulsan, the company said Thursday.

SK's Ulsan refinery is the world's biggest.

A company spokesman in Ulsan said the fire had begun at 2:10 p.m. and that its cause was unknown. The number or extent of casualties and damage was also unknown, he said.

The spokesman said it was not clear whether there had been an explosion because the refinery was some distance from the office area.

The spokesman said operations at the HOU plant had been halted due to the fire, but other plants at SK's Ulsan complex were operating normally.

The HOU plant has a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day, the spokesman said.

SK Corp's Ulsan refinery has a total capacity of 810,000 barrels per day.

The company said it would release further details later in the day, a spokesman in Seoul said.

-- Bonnie Camp (bonniec@mail.odyssey.net), May 13, 1999.

 This was on the CSY2K forum and passed it by till this post here. Thought that it may be of interest. By the way there was an explotion in Taylor  BC Canada also.
& nbsp;

RemarQ - [Software Year 2000 (comp.software.year-2000)] Increase in Refinery Fires/Explosions

Below is the list I found by date, state,
city, oil company, and (if given) system
involved

10/19/96 Illinois, Blue Island, Clark Oil

11/11/96 California, Los Angeles, Texaco, hydrotreater

1/22/97California, Martinez, Tosco

6/22/97 Texas, Houston, Shell

8/25/98 California, Martinez, Tosco

10/16/98 Pennsylvania, Trainer, Tosco, jet fuel tank

11/25/98Washington, Anacortes, Equilon PugetSound, "coker"

1/13/99 Arkansas, Smackover, Cross Oil, Naptha Valve

2/24/99 California, Martinez, Tosco

3/25/99 California, Richmond, Chevron

5/7/99 Texas, Pasadena, Lyondell-Citgo, coker

-- Brian (imager@home.com), May 13, 1999.

Now I'm wondering if that Korean plant was insured and I'm wondering if the policy was going to have a y2k exclusion in effect for 2000. Just wondering. No particular reason.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), May 13, 1999.

By the way, does Northern Hydraulics sell oil refineries. At the rate they're exploding I want one in my utility shed so I can process my own distillates.

-- Puddintame (achillesg@hotmail.com), May 13, 1999.

Lessee now - four between Oct 1996 and Oct 1998 = 4/24 months, one every 6 months, or one explosion every 24 weeks.

Six between Oct 1998 and May 1999 = six/seven months, one every .85 month, or about one refinery explosion every 3.4 weeks.

Might be significant, might not be ... Right? Year 2000 repairs and testing and rework only affect controls, processes, sensors, logs, control valves, feed rates, dump rates, pressures, temperatures, programming controllers, other minor, insignificant devices, the experts in DC are telling don't matter.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), May 13, 1999.

Or, it could be foreign-based terrorists getting warmed up. Testing our ability to detect their handiwork, as it were, before moving up to the big jobs.

y2k is the perfect cover, and the Jihad fighters know it.

-- LP (soldog@hotmail.com), May 14, 1999.

actually Puddin, at the rate they're blowing up, I think I want one in the shed of someone else who is about a mile or so downwind...

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), May 14, 1999.

I have it under good authority that Coastal employees have been informed that discussing the recent Texas fire is a major no no.

Coastal has an office here, too. I have been able to discuss other incidents with some workers in the past, but not now!

Not that I feel snubbed, mind you...

-- J (jart5@bellsouth.net), May 14, 1999.

Nobody will say that any of these were Y2K test-related. But even if you assume that they were not, refineries are dangerous. If this is normal in 1999, you can't be optimistic about next year.

The oil companies are aware of the dangers of Y2K, but there simply is not enough time to test every system. What they are doing is sampling. They are trying to test at least one of every type of system that they have installed anyplace in the world for Y2K compliance. If the system passes, it is assumed that all other installations of that system are also compliant and do not need testing.

Of course, if slight variations exist...

-- Doug (douglasjohnson@prodigy.net), May 14, 1999.

Doug - that is what I was trying show - this is way beyond "normal" for the industry. Major failures are occuring at an enormously increased rate.

Y2K related - maybe yes, maybe no. But if control systems were being edited, changed, fixed, disrupted, and modified improperly, then it makes sense that increased failures would be seen.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), May 14, 1999.

One question about this. I only know about the coker problem at Anacortes, WA [there have been two additional accidents since then]. It occurred to an outside contractor. It didn't involve refin. personnel. Of course this doesn't make it less tragic. Is this true of any of the others?

Z1X4Y7

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), May 14, 1999.

Robert - Another way to look at it... 2 in 1996; 2 in 1997; 3 in 1998; 4 so far in 1999. Look kinda exponential to me. Mebbe there won't be any refineries left by next year?

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), May 14, 1999.