A fire at Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Baytown, Texas, oil refinery on Dec. 23 has been put out but investigation is underway for the cause of the blaze. According to a story from Reuters, the fire occurred in a hydrotreater unit at the refinery that had been shut down on Dec. 22 due to a bypass line leak. Hydrotreaters remove sulfur and other contaminants in producing diesel, gasoline and jet fuel.
Four contractors who were working on repairing the leak were injured during the incident; they are reported to be in stable condition.
The Exxon Mobil complex in Baytown was founded in 1919 and sits on approximately 3,400 acres along the Houston Ship Channel, according to its website. It is the second-largest refinery in the United States with nearly 2,200 employees, and produces nearly 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
