Two injured in gas refinery fire in western Kazakhstan

Two people have been injured in a fire at Zhanazhol gas refinery of CNPC (China National Petroleum Corporation) AktobeMunaiGas oil company in Aktobe Oblast in western Kazakhstan, Tengrinews reports citing My Town news website. The incident occured on July 29.

The plant caught fire after a compressor-pump unit ignited. Local firefighters put out the fire. 

Two injured were hospitalized with various degrees of burns.

It is not the first time Zhanazhol gas refinery caught fire. The previous fire happened a little over a month ago in late June. It was caused by an explosion of an air-gas mixture in the plant's compressor facility. 2.5 thousand square meters of the facility collapsed from the explosion. Fortunately it was a stand-alone building and it caused no damage to any other units of the plant. The building was empty, so there were no casualties.

CNPC AktobeMunaiGas is a Kazakh-Chinese company developing oil and gas fields in Aktobe Oblast in western Kazakhstan, including Zhanazhol and Kenkiyak field. It is one of five largest oil companies in Kazakhstan. Chinese CNPC owns 60.28% of the company and 25.12% of it belongs to Kazakhstan. The remaining stock is held by minority shareholders.

Writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina