Chinese Oil Pipelines Explode

July 18th, 2010

Via: Telegraph:

More than 2,000 firefighters worked overnight to control flames and further blasts on a second pipeline after the initial explosion.

China Central Television showed flames raging among tanks at the port in the northern city of Dalian, and state media described flames 30 meters high.

The cause of the initial blast was not clear. The Xinhua News Agency said it happened after a tanker uploaded oil at the port.

China National Radio said officials were considering the evacuation of about 600 homes nearby.

The pipelines are owned by China National Petroleum Corp., which is Asia’s biggest oil and gas producer by volume.

Dalian’s secretary general Xu Guochen told a news conference on Saturday morning that firefighters had turned off the valves on all oil tanks at the site.

Xu said the flames gave off gas containing sulphur and aromatic hydrocarbons that were not fatally toxic, but environmental protection officials told China National Radio that the scene remained unsafe because of chemicals in the air.

Posted in Energy | Top Of Page

2 Responses to “Chinese Oil Pipelines Explode”

  1. Zenc says:
    July 18, 2010 at 4:14 am

    Not exactly sure why, but this post brought to mind this story.

  2. AHuxley says:
    July 18, 2010 at 4:42 am

    Makes me think back to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_pipeline_sabotage

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