AFP
KUWAIT CITY, Nov 4: An oil refinery in Shuaiba, 80 kilometres south of Kuwait, was shut down on Saturday after a fire in its heavy oil unit, a Kuwait National Petroleum Company spokesman said.
"A fire started after a small explosion in the heavy oil unit at about 1 pm local time. It led to a shutdown of the refinery," which has a capacity of 200,000 barrels per day, Mohammed al-Ajmi said.
"The refinery was evacuated of all its employees as a safety precaution while firefighters began their work to put out the fire," said Ajmi, adding there were no casualties.
Shuaiba is one of three KNPC refineries, which with Al-Ahmadi and Mina Abdullah, have a combined production capacity of 920,000 bpd.
In June 2000, an explosion caused by a gas leak at Al-Ahmadi, the country's largest refinery, killed seven people and injured 50.