Terror angle probed in India refinery fire; Iraq oil facility latest in global pattern
Refineries in six countries, including India, have seen incidents of fire in the last 50 days even as an energy crisis grips the world due to the war in the Middle East. A team of NIA, India's principal counter-terrorism agency, reached the HPCL's refinery in Pachpadra in Rajasthan on Wednesday. The refinery had seen a major fire incident on April 20, just a day ahead of its inauguration.
The latest incident comes from Iraq, where an explosion was reported from a refinery in Erbil, the capital of the country's Kurdistan region on Wednesday. The cause of the blast or the extent of damage to the refinery wasn't clear. But it added to the string of mystery fires and blasts at refineries across countries.
India Today Digital on Tuesday, April 21, highlighted the pattern in the fires at energy installations around the world, which had triggered questions among people.
Since the war against Iran began with airstrikes by the United States and Israel on February 28, oil installations, including refineries, in the US, Australia, Mexico, Ecuador, Iraq and India have witnessed blasts and fires. A thermal plant in Romania's capital, Bucharest, also saw an incident of fire on April 20. All these countries are outside the war zone, and even Iraq's oil facilities hadn't been targeted by Iran as it hit other Gulf countries.
The massive fire at HPCL's Pachpadra refinery started on Monday, just a day before it was to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
HPCL said an initial internal probe suggested leakage of hydrocarbons through one of the valves/flanges in the heat exchanger circuit caused the fire. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas said the refinery was "structurally safe." It isn't known when it will be operationalised.
Sources told India Today TV's Jitendra Bahadur Singh that an NIA team reached the refinery site from Jaipur and began preliminary assessment of the facility. The team includes intelligence officials, forensic experts, and cyber specialists who are examining the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), where the fire reportedly originated.
Alongside the team from the NIA, The Times of India reported that a team from the Rajasthan Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) also inspected the site and held discussions with the refinery management.
The NIA is involved in probes where there is any doubt of terrorism or sabotage by external forces.
Before the blaze at the Rajasthan refinery, ONGC's oil field off Mumbai's shore too reported a fire incident on April 4.
Ten personnel sustained minor injuries after a fire broke out on ONGC's SHP Platform at Mumbai High. The fire was promptly brought under control and extinguished by emergency response teams. ONGC has not disclosed the cause of the fire.
The string of refineries catching fire started on March 1 in the South American country of Ecuador, where operations at Petroecuador's Esmeraldas oil refinery – the country's largest – were halted after a fire broke out in the charge pumps of one of its units. The facility has a processing capacity of 110,000 barrels per day.
On March 17, a refinery in Mexico caught fire, killing five people. The blaze erupted at the Olmeca oil refinery after oily water spread around its perimeter. The refinery, part of Mexico's largest refining complex, began operations in 2024.
On March 23, an explosion occurred at Valero Port Arthur Energy refinery in Texas after a diesel hydrotreater caught fire. While there was early speculation about Iran's involvement, no official confirmation followed. Authorities later ordered a high-level investigation into the incident.
On April 4, a fire broke out on ONGC's SHP platform at Mumbai High, injuring 10 personnel. Emergency response teams quickly brought the blaze under control, though ONGC has not disclosed the cause.
Another major fire was reported on April 10 at Marathon's El Paso refinery in Texas, reportedly triggered by "technical issues." The company said the fire was swiftly contained.
Australia reported a blaze on April 16 at Viva Energy's Corio refinery in Geelong, one of the country's two largest operational refineries. Emergency crews responded as the nation faced mounting pressure over fuel security amid tensions in the Middle East. The refinery, which supplies 50% of Victoria's fuel and about 10% of Australia's total, remains not fully operational, with authorities warning of possible impacts on petrol production.
The latest incident occurred on April 20 at HPCL's refinery in Rajasthan, just a day before its scheduled inauguration. Dozens of fire tenders were deployed before the blaze was eventually brought under control.
"Indian oil refineries must take extra steps on security and sabotage from the inside," Aravind, a verified account on X, posted on April 16, four days before the Rajasthan refinery fire broke out.
The handle said they "had a bad hunch" that the "adversaries could burn an oil refinery" in the country. "Adversaries can burn a refinery to increase oil prices for geopolitical reasons and derail India's economy," Aravind wrote.
After the series of fires, one North American-based X account claimed this was "no coincidence but a pattern to disrupt the oil supply."
The fire at the refinery in Iraq's Ebril on Wednesday is the latest in the series of blazes.
People have pointed out that these are too many and just too frequent incidents of fires at oil infrastructures across the world that can't be sheer coincidence. Only in-depth probes, like the one India is conducting in Rajasthan, will reveal the truth.
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