A hydrogen plant operated by Danbury-based Praxair Inc. at Motiva Enterprises’ 285,000 barrel-per-day Port Arthur, Texas, refinery was shut on Tuesday after an explosion and fire, Reuters reports.
No injuries were reported among Praxair employees, said Susan Szita-Gore, company spokeswoman, Reuters reported.
“I understand it was a pretty big bang,” Szita-Gore said.
The Praxair plant supplies all of the hydrogen to Motiva’s refinery, Szita-Gore said.
No injuries were reported among Motiva employees following the blast and blaze, according to a statement issued by Motiva, Reuters reported.
The company did not reply to requests for information about how refinery operations were affected by the loss of hydrogen.
Refiners have switched to having third-party providers produce hydrogen used in the refining of cheaper heavy, sour crude oils in motor fuels that meet strict U.S. environmental standards.
Sources familiar with refinery operations said the damage to the hydrogen plant was extensive.
Szita-Gore said it was too early to determine the amount of damage to the Praxair plant, though the Motiva refinery units were not damaged.
Motiva is a joint-venture between Saudi Refining and Shell Oil Co, the U.S. unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
