Article author:
Reuters
Mark Frank and Nelson Acosta
HAVANA — A third crude oil tank caught fire and collapsed at Cuba's main oil terminal in Matanzas, its governor said Monday. rice field. Flames from the second tank that ignited two days ago in the biggest island oil industry accident in decades.
A huge pillar of fire rose into the sky and thick black smoke billowed throughout the day, darkening the sky as far as Havana. Just before midnight he had one tank collapse and at noon another imploded, causing explosions to rock the area.
1 firefighter was killed and 16 were missing. All due to an explosion at the second storage tank on Saturday. A fourth tank was threatened but did not catch fire. Cuba relies heavily on oil for electricity.
Cuba made progress in fighting off raging flames over the weekend with help from Mexico and Venezuela, but fire began spreading from a second tank that collapsed late Sunday, said Mario of Cuba. Governor Sabines said. Matanzas, about 60 miles (130 km) from Havana.
Matanzas is Cuba's largest import port for crude oil and fuels. Cuban heavy crude oil, fuel oil and diesel stored at Matanzas are primarily used for power generation on the island.
Sabines said the flame spread from one tank to the next like an "Olympic torch," each becoming a "cauldron" surrounding its area. Tackling the situation was "complicated" as three tanks were engulfed in flames and billowing black smoke.
Cuban state television has been covering the ongoing disaster live since Saturday, with President Miguel Diaz-Canel always there, and the economic and political implications of the situation. emphasizes its importance.
The communist-run and heavily sanctioned country is nearly bankrupt, with power outages and shortages of petrol and other commodities leading to a historic fall in July last summer. After the turmoil, a tense situation was already brewing with scattered protests across the country.
At noon on Monday, officials said the country's most important power station, less than a mile from the fire, had shut down due to low water pressure in the area.
Power grids are more than 90% dependent on domestic and imported fuels. Jorge Pinon, dean of the Latin America and Caribbean Energy and Environment Department at the University of Texas at Austin, said the fires threaten both.
"The key question is where to produce the fuel for electricity, as Cuban crude oil production is only connected to Matanzas by pipeline. said Pinon, adding that the facility has an installed capacity of 2.4 million barrels.
A tanker carrying Russian crude to Matanzas, identified by Refinitiv Eikon monitoring service, has been evacuated even if the dock is unaffected by the fire due to possible damage to tanks, pipelines and valves. , is unlikely to be able to unload next week, analysts said.
Since Matanzas is the only terminal with the capacity to accept large ships, tankers will be able to transport their cargo via ship-to-ship operations so that the crude oil can be refined at refineries in Cienfuegos or Havana. Pinon said they could be forced to move.
Residents expressed concern that the crisis would worsen as the hottest period of the year passed. expressed.
In an upscale Havana neighborhood, Havana resident Pia Ferrer exclaimed, "Oh my God, no lights, no gas. This is what it means." (Reporting by Nelson Acosta and Mark Frank; additional reporting by Marianna Paraga; editing by David Gregorio and Margherita Choi)