Safety
Marathon Galveston Bay contractor killed in scaffold collapse
A contractor working for Marathon Petroleum Corp.'s Galveston Bay refinery in Texas was killed Monday in the collapse of scaffolding under construction at a dock in the port of Texas City.
Petrobras refinery mishaps hurt Brazil fuel output
Serial failures at a Petrobras refinery have hobbled about 10% of Brazil's crude-processing capacity, raising safety and efficiency concerns at the financially troubled state-led oil company.
Engineering Case Histories: Case 92: The danger of pneumatic testing complacency
With proper safety, planning and implementation, pneumatic testing of piping and vessels has been performed successfully for many years.
Reliability: Consider amended warranties for rotating equipment
If you have ever encountered a situation where an equipment manufacturer declined to offer warranties, allow us to share three case histories.
Prospective costs of the EPA’s proposed RMP chemical accident prevention requirements
On March 14, 2016, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published proposed revisions to its Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility safety program in the US Federal Register.
Review of the CSB report on the 2010 Tesoro refinery fire
On April 2, 2010, a catastrophic fire occurred within the naphtha hydrotreating unit in the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington. The final CSB report, including recommendations, was issued in May 2014, more than four years after the incident that resulted in the tragic loss of seven lives. This work critically reviews the CSB analysis of this incident and several of its resulting recommendations.
No damage, injuries reported in Iran petrochemical fire
An explosion and fire in a naphtha storage tank at Iran's Bu Ali Sina petrochemical refinery has been extinguished. News reports claim that no personnel fatalities nor damage to the plant have been sustained.
Rompetrol to perform scheduled maintenance work at Petromidia Refinery
Rompetrol has begun scheduled maintenance at its Petromidia refinery and conducting an investigation into the August 22 explosion.
Sulfur tank explosion and fire at Tesoro Carson refinery
A fire erupted at Tesoro’s Carson refinery after a 1-ton sulfur tank exploded.
Iran detects malware in petrochemical plants
Iran has detected and removed malicious software from two of its petrochemical complexes after announcing last week it was investigating whether recent petrochemical fires were caused by cyber attacks.

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- BASF is expanding its portfolio of raw materials for the production of concrete superplasticizers for the construction industry in the European market 5/13