Exclusive: Fire at Rumaila Oil Field causes 120 wells shut down

Shafaq News/ On Friday, a petroleum expert expressed surprise over the reactivation of the tank that caught fire, in the Rumaila oil field just one day after being rehabilitated.
The expert told Shafaq News, “All the tanks at northern Rumaila are operated using cold flares, without the need for any fire to bring them online.”
The expert, who requested to remain anonymous, explained that “tanks ignite only when there is a flame during withdrawal after being in operation for some time. This type of incident occurred twice in the 1970s, but in today’s case, the tank was just starting its operation
The tank had been under rehabilitation by an Egyptian company for a whole year, and when it was restarted, it exploded, he pointed out.
Another source revealed that the number of halted wells had risen from 60 to 120, and the loss was estimated at 200,000 barrels of oil.
The safety department at northern Rumaila field reported that, “At 1:30 p.m., an explosion and fire were reported in oil tank number 2 (10,000 cubic meters) at the fifth gas separation station (DS5) in northern Rumaila.
The department added that the tank was isolated, cooling efforts were made on the adjacent tank, and workers were evacuated. The fire was brought under control by 5:30 p.m.
No human casualties were recorded, but significant damage occurred to the burnt tank.
“The likely cause of the fire was operational error, prompting the formation of a technical committee to investigate the cause of the explosion and fire,” the department indicated.
Earlier today, a source told Shafaq News, “The fire caused a loss of 135,000 barrels of oil, in addition to the suspension of 60 wells from the station.”
“The fire was extinguished with the help of 20 fire trucks, 10 specialized vehicles for this type of fire, and 10 additional tanker trucks, each with a 16,000-liter capacity,” the source revealed.