The explosion occurred at 3:13 p.m. (0713 GMT) on Sunday at Panjin Haoye whereas staff have been finishing up upkeep work at an alkylation facility, Chinese state tv reported earlier on Monday.

Panjin Haoye is an impartial refinery and chemical producer within the metropolis of Panjin in Liaoning province in northeastern China.

Thirty individuals have been additionally flippantly injured, based on the TV report, which stated the fireplace has been introduced underneath management.

Xu Peng, an analyst with consultancy JLC that carefully tracks the manufacturing of impartial refineries, estimated Haoye was processing 62.5% of its crude refining capability of 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) via 2022.

The plant processed 460,000 tonnes of crude in December, or roughly 110,000 bpd, based on one other China-based commerce supply.

JLC’s Xu and a number of other buying and selling sources estimated that the positioning could also be closed for months.

Calls to Panting Haoye for remark have been unanswered.

A yr in the past, Panjin Haoye was amongst three impartial refineries named by the Liaoning provincial authorities to have evaded gas taxes amid a broad nationwide clampdown to consolidate its huge refining sector.