Total confirms explosion at British fuel depot

London (Platts)--11Dec2005

France's Total Sunday confirmed an explosion at the company's Buncefield
fuel depot north of London.
     The company said firm details were still not known, although UK police
said there was no reason to suspect the explosion had been caused by anything
other than an accident.
     Emergency services at the scene have confirmed 36 casualties, Total said
in a statement. Most of these are minor injuries, although four are more
serious cases.
     Total's storage facilities at Buncefield near Hemel Hempstead are jointly
with Chevron unit Texaco. They comprise the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal
east and west sites with a total of 26 storage tanks.
     It is not known how many tanks were affected by the explosion at the
site, although eyewitnesses reported multiple blasts.
     The terminal is connected by pipeline to Total's 200,000 b/d Lindsey
refinery on the North Sea coast, and is used to store Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel,
unleaded gasoline, kerosene, gasoil and aviation fuel.
     A total of 2.37-mil mt of products passed through the terminal in 2002,
according to information on Total's website. The site is used by around 400
road tankers each day, with loadings taking place on a 24-hour basis.
     The site also has a number of pipeline links, including the West London
Pipeline System used to supply Heathrow and Gatwick airports with jet fuel.
     As well as the Total/Chevron site, there are also adjacent oil product
storage facilities at the same complex belonging to BP, Royal Dutch Shell and
the British Pipeline Agency.
     A large plume of smoke was still rising from the site several hours after
the explosion, with police advising people in the immediate vicinity to stay
indoors and keep their doors and windows closed.

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