Chevron fire investigators wait for all-clear before refinery inspection

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/aug/09/chevron-fire-investigators-refinery-inspection


The Chevron refinery in Richmond, California opened in 1902. Photograph: Keystone/Zuma/Rex Features

Investigators are waiting to see if it is safe to enter a smouldering Chevron oil refinery after it was ravaged by fire, sending plumes across the San Francisco bay area and Californian gasoline prices surging.

Experts warned it could take months to repair the refinery in Richmond, a 2,900-acre facility which refines about 150,000 gallons of gasoline daily, 15% of the state's daily needs.

Monday evening's blaze began in a tower and spread to at least three units used to cool water, prompting hundreds of people to seek treatment for respiratory problems and panic buying at the pumps, raising prices 11% in the bay area.

However, initial predictions that prices could exceed $4 per gallon were scaled back because spare capacity in other west coast refineries could fill much, if not all, of the gap.