Oil exports at a standstill as fire leads to closure for safety checks at Formosa

02-Aug-11

The recent fire that broke out at Formosa Petrochemical Corp.- the seventh at Mailiao complex, has resulted in closure of the plants for safety checks. This has led to a standstill in exports of oil products from its refineries. Domestic consumption will be met by the 30 days of inventories of gasoline and diesel with the company. This refinery has been in use since 2005, hence age is unlikely to be the cause of the fire, as per initial investigations. The cause remains unknown, but investigations are underway to determine the reason of the fire.