Chevron Corp. said last Thursday it has temporarily suspended operations at a lubricants facility in China's eastern city of Tianjin following explosions late last Wednesday night at a nearby chemical company warehouse that killed dozens.
A Chevron spokesman said in a statement that the Chevron facility, located about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the blast site in Tianjins Binhai New Area, did not sustain immediate visible damage.and that operations would resume once the blast area is stabilized. The spokesman added that the company doesn't expect its lubricants-product supply to be impacted by the facility's suspension.
Chinese authorities last Thursday said the death toll from the explosions in the city of Tianjin a major port city and a maritime gateway to Beijing was at least 50, including firemen who fought the blaze, and injuring some 700 others, at least 70 seriously, as they searched for the cause of blasts.
The latest death toll as of this past Saturday was 85 as new explosions and fires rocked the Chinese port city on Saturday,
Wednesday night's blasts, so large that they were seen by satellites in space, sent shockwaves through apartment blocks kilometers away in the port city of 15 million people. Internet videos showed fireballs shooting into the sky and the U.S. Geological Survey registered the blasts as seismic events. Seismologists tracked two explosions at about 11:34 p.m. local time, with the second and much larger blast unleashing the equivalent of roughly 21 tons of TNT in explosive force, the China Earthquake Networks Center said.
The warehouse was being used by a logistics company that handles hazardous chemicals, according to officials. One of the chemical reportedly stored there was sodium cyanide, a toxic chemical that becomes combustible on contact with water or damp air.
In addition to Chevron, other companies that do business in Tianjin said they could see disruptions to their operations. Mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd., a major supplier of iron ore used by Chinas steel mills, said shipments and port operations were disrupted. Dongfeng Renault Automobile Co., a joint venture between Frances Renault and Chinas Dongfeng Motor Group, said the explosion destroyed about 1,500 of its vehicles in the vicinity, while Hyundai Motor Co. said it was still assessing how many of its 4,000 cars in the area might be damaged.
On Saturday, the government set up a no-man zone within 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) of the explosions to clean up chemical contamination from sodium cyanide, according to media reports. It is unknown what effect, if any, this will have on the re-opening of the Chevron lubricants facility.
OEM/Lube News contacted Chevron's main offices in San Ramon, California in an attempt to obtain additional information and to obtain a status update, but as of press time did not receive a response.
