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A FIRE which broke out during maintenance work at ExxonMobil’s Beaumont refinery in Texas, US, has injured 12 contractors.

The fire broke out at around 10:30 local time, when the workers, employees of contracting firms Signature Industrial Services, Brock Services, LLC and KT Maintenance, were working on a processing unit, which was shut down for the repairs. Yahoo News reports that the unit undergoing maintenance was a hydrotreater heat exchanger, although this was not confirmed by ExxonMobil, and that the workers were welding at the time.

ExxonMobil spokesperson Rachael Moore tells tce that the fire was quickly controlled by on-site emergency response personnel, and that all other employees and contractors on site have been accounted for. The 12 injured contractors were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Five workers were later released, however, seven remain in hospital. Four of these were more seriously injured and are still undergoing treatment, while three are under observation.

ExxonMobil will now begin an investigation to determine the cause of the incident.

The Beaumont refinery processes 365,000 bbl/d of crude oil and produces around 10.6bn l/y of petrol. The Beaumont complex also includes a lubricant plant, a polyethylene plant and a chemicals plant, which produces various feedstocks such as ethylene, propylene, lubricant basestocks and zeolite catalysts.