AMUAY OIL

REFINERY
EXPLOSION

1 Prepared by:
Kauthar Yussuf Maalim
 GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION AND
ACTIVITIES
 Amuay is located in Falcon state in north-
western Venezuela
 Amuay refinery is one of the biggest refineries in
the world which began operation in January
1950
 It produced over 940.000 barrels per day of
crude oil.
 The nearest cities to Amuay are Judibana
and Punto Fijo.
2
LOCATION ON A MAP

3
 EXPLOSION BACKGROUND
 Ithappened on Saturday 25th August, 2012
 The worst accident to hit the OPEC nation's oil
industry
 The explosion was caused by a gas leak

 The gas cloud exploded, igniting at least

three storage tanks, and other facilities
 Flames reaching 30 meters into the night air
crackled almost 20 hours after the explosion
occurred
4
 WHAT WENT WRONG
 According to petroleum energy minister, Rafael
Ramírez , it was an act of sabotage by factors
external to the refinery

 Intentionally-loosened bolts in a gas pump

caused a leak that led to the ensuing blast

 Massive leak of propane that lasted almost 70

minutes caused the accident 5
 SCALE OF ACCIDENT
 The explosion killed no fewer than 41 people
and injuring more than 86 others

 The explosion and fire completely incinerated the

military post, the Puramin plant, part of a
neighboring hydrogen plant, several residential
areas, several storage areas for fuels and gases,
and LPG facilities. 6
 PROPERTY LOSS
 The total damages caused by the explosion to
Amuay's facilities represent $1.84 billion
including the losses caused by the refinery's
shutdown

 As many as 3,400 houses, restaurants, schools

and others structures were destroyed or
damaged 7
 Visible Impacts: 
 Air pollution

 Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity),

 Oil spills, Deforestation and loss of vegetation

cover, Surface water pollution

 Accidents, Exposure to unknown or uncertain

complex risks (radiation),

 Death 8
 Average production at the refinery was down by
170,000 bpd at 310,000 bpd after the fire until
repairs were completed.

 It is now running around 435,000 bpd, or 68

percent of capacity

9
10
11
12
13
REFERENCES

 amuay property loss - Google Search. (2017). Google.com.

Retrieved 25 February 2017, from
https://www.google.com/search?q=amuay+property+lo
ss&newwindow=1&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=
X&ved=0ahUKEwiSxtXP3arSAhWDX5QKHbZhCloQ_AUI
CSgC&biw=1366&bih=662#imgrc=rGQiPjtDVb_hpM:
 HORROR: Oil Refinery Blast Kills Dozens. (2017). The
Huffington Post. Retrieved 22 February 2017, from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/25/amuay-
venezuela-oil-refinery-explosion_n_1830737.html
 Huge blast stops Venezuela's main oil refinery Amuay -
BBC News. (2017). BBC News. Retrieved 22 February
2017, from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin- 14
america-19378657