Investigation into Petrobras plant explosion begins

On February 18, an explosion occurred at Petrobras' petrochemical complex in Puerto General San Martin, Santa Fe, Argentina. The incident, which took place in the furnace of the desulfurization area in the reformer plant, was immediately contained by the firefighter brigade at the plant. They performed the safety protocol with Petrobras' new emergency equipments to control the fire.

Technicians are working to determine the cause of the incident. The affected area in the plant is not operating; however, the four other plants at the petrochemical complex are operating normally. The main products at the complex's five plants are rubber, styrene, liquid gas, light naphtha and industrial solvents. The complex is near the San Lorenzo refinery, also from Petrobras. The San Lorenzo refinery was not affected by the explosion.

The complex went into operation in 1966. In 2007, Petrobras performed a project at the complex to increase aromatics production capacity. Petrobras owns three petrochemical plants in Argentina: the petrochemical complex a Fertilizer Plant (Campana) and a polystyrene plant (Buenos Aires).

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