Fire halts production at Ecuador's biggest oil refinery
A fuel tank fire on Monday halted production at Ecuador's largest oil refinery, sparking the evacuation of nearby residents as a giant plume of smoke billowed from the facility.
Operations at the plant in Esmeraldas province, which can refine 110,000 barrels per day (bpd), were suspended "to safeguard the security of the facilities and personnel," state oil company Petroecuador said.
It said no one was injured in the blaze, and five people received medical attention for minor effects of smoke inhalation.
Workers were evacuated from the site that was cordoned off by soldiers and refinery staff, an AFP journalist observed.
Ecuadoran police said it was evacuating residents of the area, without specifying how many.
The cause of the fire at the refinery near Ecuador's border with Colombia was not yet known.
Writing on X, Energy Minister Ines Manzano said the situation was "under control," but the assurance did little to quell the concerns of residents.
Ramiro Medina, a plant worker, said "a loud noise" was heard, "and we all started running."
"What is happening now is quite worrying," added community representative Edgar Romero.
"We smelled something and thought it was coming from the Jaime Hurtado school, which was being fumigated today.... (but then) we smelled gasoline... We hope that the authorities will take action."
- Fuel supply 'guaranteed' -
Petroecuador, which operates the facility, did not specify the amount of fuel that was in the tank when the fire broke out.
Ecuador is one of South America's top oil producers and is heavily reliant on its petroleum exports for revenue.
In 2024, the country produced about 475,000 barrels of crude per day, of which it sold nearly three-quarters, earning $8.6 billion in oil exports.
But production last year was disrupted by recurring power cuts linked to the worst drought in 60 years, which reduced the level of hydroelectric reservoirs to historic lows.
In March this year, a massive fuel pipeline leak saw more than 25,000 barrels of crude spill into three rivers, in an incident that also forced a suspension of oil exports.
Ecuador has two other refineries, with respective capacity for 45,000 and 20,000 barrels per day.
The government said in a statement Monday that "the supply of fuel is completely guaranteed throughout the country" despite the fire.
pld/cb/dw/mlr/jgc
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Tesla shares jump 5% after all-out Trump-Musk feud wipes out $150B market value
Tesla shares jumped more than 5% Friday — a day after an all-out feud between CEO Elon Musk and President Trump tanked the stock and wiped out $152 billion in market value. Investors were hopeful for signs that the two might reconcile after Tesla suffered its worst single-day drop in more than four years, though Trump said Friday he has no interest in speaking with his former top ally. 'You mean the man who has lost his mind?' Trump told ABC News when asked about the possibility that the pair would speak on a call. 3 President Trump and Elon Musk speak in the Oval Office before leaving the White House in March. AFP via Getty Images Musk, the world's richest person, lost about $27 billion on Thursday as he taunted Trump, saying he wouldn't have won the election without his help. The president fired back by threatening to kill his companies' government contracts. Despite Thursday financial hit, the Tesla and SpaceX boss remains the richest person in the world with a net worth of $395.8 billion, according to Forbes. Tesla short sellers, meanwhile, reaped $4 billion in profits Thursday in one of their largest single-day gains ever, according to estimates from S3 Partners. So far this year, investors have made $7 billion betting against the carmaker. Tesla is currently the second most shorted stock in the US by total value of the position. 'Musk needs Trump and Trump needs Musk for many reasons and these two becoming friends again will be a huge relief for Tesla shares,' Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note Friday morning. Musk's attacks on Thursday took aim at the Trump-backed spending bill that narrowly passed through the House and awaits Senate approval. The tax package would end EV tax credits worth as much as $7,500 for buyers – threatening to dock Tesla's annual profit by $1.2 billion, JPMorgan analysts said Thursday. 3 Trump and Musk have been in the middle of an all-out feud. AFP via Getty Images It would also impose a new annual $250 fee on EV drivers. Meanwhile, the Senate recently moved to block California's EV sales mandates, which could slice another $2 billion off Tesla's sales, according to JPMorgan. Those measures combined threaten to erase about half of the more than $6 billion in earnings before interest and taxes that Tesla is expected to report this year, analysts led by Ryan Brinkman wrote in a report last month. 3 Musk has been taunting the president on social media. AFP via Getty Images Tesla sales have plummeted in major markets across Europe, allowing Chinese rival BYD to overtake Tesla in some countries. The brand's reputation has also taken a beating as protests broke out across the country – and some Tesla showrooms and vehicles were vandalized or set ablaze – as demonstrators decried Musk's role in slashing government spending, including funds for the Department of Education and US Agency for International Development.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump has no plans to call Musk, White House says after feud
The White House squashed speculation that Donald Trump and Elon Musk would patch up their stunning public feud, saying the US president had no plans to call his billionaire former aide Friday. Trump lobbed fresh insults at the South African-born Musk a day after the fiery implosion of their unlikely political marriage, saying the tech tycoon had "lost his mind." In a telling symbol of how their relationship had deteriorated, the president was even considering selling or giving away a Tesla he had bought to show support for Musk amid protests against the company. The row exploded on Thursday when Trump said he was "very disappointed" by Musk and threatened to end his government contracts, after his ex-aide criticized the president's flagship budget bill as an "abomination." Reports had emerged that Musk and Trump would speak by phone on Friday in a bid to patch up the damaging public row, but the White House scotched such speculation. "The president does not intend to speak to Musk today," a senior White House official told AFP on condition of anonymity when asked if the feuding pair planned to speak. Trump told broadcaster ABC in a phone call earlier Friday that he was "not particularly interested" in talking to Musk. "You mean the man who has lost his mind?" ABC quoted Trump as saying. Trump, who once called Musk a "genius", branded him "crazy" on social media on Thursday. - Fallout - The row could have major political and economic fallout, as shares in Musk's Tesla car company seesaw and the SpaceX boss vowed that he would end a critical US spaceship program. The White House called a special meeting on Thursday to discuss how to handle the crisis with Musk, a government source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Trump meanwhile may ditch the red Tesla that he bought from Musk's firm at the height of their relationship. The electric vehicle was still parked on the White House grounds on Friday. "He's thinking about it, yes," the senior White House official told AFP when asked if Trump would sell or give away the Tesla. Trump and Musk had posed inside the car at a bizarre event in March, when the US president turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom after protests against Musk's government role tanked the firm shares. Speculation had long swirled that a relationship between two big egos like the president and the tycoon could not last long -- but the speed of the meltdown took Washington by surprise. Trump said in a televised Oval Office diatribe on Thursday that he was "very disappointed" after his former top donor criticized his "big, beautiful" spending bill before Congress. The pair then hurled insults at each other on social media -- with Musk even posting, without proof, that Trump was referenced in government documents on disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. dk/bgs
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump may get rid of his Tesla after Musk row: official
Donald Trump may now offload a Tesla he said he bought earlier this year in a show of support for Elon Musk, a White House official said Friday, following a blazing row between the US president and his billionaire former advisor. The red electric vehicle, which retails for around $80,000, was still in a parking lot on the White House grounds on Friday, an AFP reporter said, a day after the very public meltdown between Trump and the South African-born tech tycoon. "He's thinking about it, yes," a senior White House official told AFP when asked if the Republican would sell or give away the Tesla. Tesla stocks had tanked more than 14 percent on Thursday amid the row, losing some $100 billion of the company's market value, but leapt back in early trading Friday. Trump, who does not drive as a president, said he was buying the Tesla in March to boost support for his mega-donor, whose brand -- and bottom line -- has been hit hard by public outrage over his role in slashing US government jobs. At a choreographed publicity stunt that turned the White House into a pop-up Tesla showroom, Trump praised the EV as a "great product" and lashed out on social media at "Radical Left" attacks against the world's richest person and his company. Trump's Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and another senior aide posed in the car as recently as last week, in a photograph posted on Musk's social media network X. "Taking President Trump's Tesla out for a ride," Trump's communications advisor Margo Martin posted. But the shiny red vehicle has now become an awkward symbol of the fiery political divorce between Trump, 78, and former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Musk, 53. Trump said he was "very disappointed" by Musk and threatened to end his government contracts after his ex-aide criticized the president's flagship budget and policy mega-bill as an "abomination." dk/sms
