Refinery Unit Blows Up as Ahmadinejad Arrives

As Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his entourage were visiting the Abadan refinery complex, an explosion in the plant rocked the facility and burnt it down. Minutes after the explosion which resulted in death and injuries of a number of the workers at the refinery, Ahmadinejad spoke of Iran’s readiness to “modernize the industries of all Islamic countries and the oil industry of oil producers.”

While conflicting numbers have been published on the number of deaths and injuries at the plant, Mehr news agency reported that the number of dead had risen to four workers and at least 20 others had been injured, some suffering burns. The news agency added that because the “reason for the explosion was not clear” more explosions and fire could take place at this aging plant.

Ahmadinejad and none of the members of his visiting team were harmed in the explosion but Fars news agency reported that most of those who were injured suffered from gas asphyxiation while one victim suffered serious burns.

The state run IRNA news agency played down the explosion and referred to it as a “minor” event. Quoting the managing director of the refinery, it wrote that the fire was rapidly brought under control.

Gas concentration has been announced as the cause of the explosion which resulted in fires breaking out in that section. The gas itself has also been reported to have inflicted injuries on the proximate workers.

Refinery Under Security Control

Mehr news agency reported that in the initial hours after the explosion, a “blanket of poisonous gas” filled the sky of the city of Abadan, which by the time of the writing of the agency’s report had been cleared.

Fararoo news site wrote that security forces took over the management of the refinery as Ahmadinejad left the plant.

Alireza Zeighami, the managing director of the National Refinery and Distribution Company of Iran announced after the explosion that the plant would be rebuilt within 15 days of the incident.

This explosion may set back the production plans of car gasoline. Under the current plans, between 4 and 4.5 million liters of car fuel are to be added to the national capacity at Abadan, which is now most likely impacted by the explosion. Iran produces on average of between 55 and 56 million liters of car gasoline domestically. Under current plans, the completion of a new facility at Abadan’s refinery was expected to increase the volume of exports of gasoline and other refined products to other countries. Some 45 thousand barrels of refined products were to be added to its current production of 430 thousand barrels of refined derivatives at the oldest refinery in the country.

Following the expansion of international sanctions against Iran and the impact that this has had on the country’s ability to import its gasoline needs, the government embarked on a program to expand its domestic refining capacity to meet the domestic needs for car fuels and gasoline.

This Was Expected

Following the explosion at Abadan’s refinery, the head of the energy committee of the Majlis, Hamid-Reza Katoozian told reporters that “experts had issued warnings about the Abadan refinery,” adding that the explosion was not the work of sabotage.

He said the problem that led to the explosion was a technical one and added that “problems and threats” had been identified at the plant when it was completed.

Katoozian’s emphasis that the plant was not fully ready to be made operational comes as Ayandeh website reported that the managing director of Abadan Refinery, Mehraban, did not participate in the opening ceremony of the new facility and said that he could not take the responsibility for the inauguration. The news site added that because of Mehraban’s absence, the chairman of the board of directors of the plant performed the ceremony. Ayandeh website also wrote that the plant was hurriedly launched for propaganda purposes to advance Ahmadinejad’s image and agenda, adding that this was the principal cause of the explosion.

According to the report published by Ayandeh, technicians at the plant had specifically told the president’s office that the plant was not ready to be operational yet, but that the individuals in that office insisted on the plant’s inauguration.

Raja news – closely affiliated to Ahmadinejad’s supporters – wrote that “oil executives” were the responsible individuals for the explosion at Abadan’s refinery. It wrote that some oil executives were aware that the plant “was not complete and ready to be operational” but that they dragged the president into the issue for propaganda purposes, which resulted in the fire at the plant. “Those injured at the plant were the victims of the rivalry among oil executives who strived to gain higher posts in the oil industry for which they provided erroneous information to the president and played with the position and stature of the presidency and the administration,” it wrote.