Mexico’s Pemex Says Largest Refinery Offline Due to Fire After Quake

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Mexican national oil company Pemex said on Tuesday that its Salina Cruz oil refinery, the country’s largest, is offline following a small fire that broke out after a major earthquake struck nearby.

A company spokesperson said the fire was immediately extinguished but that the facility on the coast of the southern state of Oaxaca has been temporarily shut down.

“A small fire broke out and was immediately controlled,” a Pemex spokesperson told Reuters.

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake hit the coast of southern Mexico on Tuesday morning, killing at least one person, buckling paved roads, and sending people fleeing their homes into the streets.

While it has been operating below its operating capacity for an extended period of time, the Salina Cruz refinery holds a total crude oil processing capacity of 330,000 barrels per day.

Courtesy: www.reuters.com