Irving Oil closes refinery in Saint John, Canada after a fire

(Reuters) – Irving Oil Corp. closed its Saint John refinery in the Canadian province of New Brunswick Monday morning after a fire, with photos showing smoke escaping from the complex.

The company said it was facing a "major incident" in the refinery at 320,000 barrels a day. According to local media reports, locals said they heard an explosion and saw a fire.

"We are actively evaluating the situation at this time and will share more information when it becomes available," Irving said in a statement. The company has not responded to a request for additional comment.

According to local media reports, the explosion caused only a few "minor injuries". Horizon Health, which operates the Saint John Regional Hospital, said on Twitter that it was on high alert, but a spokesman for the company declined to comment further.

The Genscape Energy Intelligence Service announced that the plant had been shut down following a fire, claiming that it appeared to have occurred near the catalytic reformer.

The crude section, the catalytic reformer and a cogeneration unit were shut down following the incident, Genscape reported, adding that several units were already offline for maintenance purposes.

The company closed most of the plant for scheduled maintenance at the end of September, but the smaller gasoline production units and 125,000 bpd crude oil units were still in operation. service, said a source close to the factory.

The source stated that he thought the explosion had occurred in the part of the plant where the hydrogen unit is located.

According to the Irving website, more than half of the refinery's finished products are exported to the northeastern United States.

The information on the fire caused a rise in futures contracts on refined products. Gasoline rose about 2% after reports.