INEOS has confirmed a temporary shutdown at its Lavera chemicals facility following an incident over the weekend.
At 15:10 on Saturday 5th September a leak on the Napthachemie steam system at the Lavera site resulted in the shutdown of a number of petrochemical units on the INEOS site at Lavera including one of its cracker units. All related production units have been safely shut down following this incident.
The on-site emergency teams managed the incident. There were no injuries and no environmental impact
Work on the affected plant has started, however there is no timetable for restart available at this time.
An investigation is currently underway to understand the exact causes of this incident.
INEOS Refining continues to operate normally
ENDS.
For further information contact:
Richard Longden – INEOS - Tel: +44 (0) 7710 371998
Note to Editors
The Lavera site covers around 650 ha. The site refines crude oil and manufactures chemicals, two complementary activities which provide significant synergy.
The INEOS refinery at Lavera is one of the most modern facilities of its kind in France. It has the capability to process around 10 million tons of crude oil and is capable of producing a broad range of petroleum based products used across a broad range of applications.
Downstream of the refinery, the chemical site converts refined products into the likes of ethylene and propylene, which are used in plastic and a variety of chemical intermediates.
The Lavera site employs around 900 people. It hosts a number of organisations including: INEOS, Arkema and Total Petrochemicals France and subsidiaries (50/50 INEOS and Total Petrochemicals France): Naphtachimie for olefins and butadiene, Appryl for polypropylene and Gexaro for benzene. INEOS also owns a Joint venture with Arkema for the production of heavy alcohols: OXOCHIMIE.