The incident, which occurred at the weekend, resulted in a wild inferno
which engulfed an estimated 27 square kilometers of the once rich Kalakama
mangrove, killing sea foods and cash crops.
So huge, the impact of the explosion was felt on the Okrika Island and the
Borikiri area of Port Harcourt where, residents were forced into a stampede for
safety.
LNG Explosion In Algeria Industrial Zone
Port was designed to load only small LNG Tankers for short distances
Death Toll Currently: 27
Workers Injured: 74
Blast Felt Miles Away
Facility Destroyed
Fires Raged For 8 Hours
Property Damage: Approx. $ 1 Billion
Cause: Initially: "Defective Boiler" Which Had Earlier Received "Superficial
Repairs"
Cause: Currently: Liquefied Natural Gas Leak in Pipe
BBC
NEWS
Four killed in Algeria gas blast
Monday,
19 January, 2004, 21:35 GMT 
Full
Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3411651.stm
ABSTRACTS:
An
explosion at a natural gas complex in Algeria has killed at least four people
and injured about 60 others. The blast
took place at a state-owned liquefied natural gas unit in the industrial zone
of the north-eastern coastal town of Skikda.
"We're
still fighting the fires but we have yet to determine the cause of the
explosion," a
civil defense official in Skikda told Reuters news agency.
One
witness told Reuters the explosion was felt miles away. © BBC MMIV
Yet,
the Energy Industry Still Insists LNG is Safe for Our American Communities
albawaba.com,
January 20, 2004
Blast at Algerian
liquefied natural gas plant
Kills at least 20 people
Full Story: http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=268430&lang=e&dir=news
© Copyright Al-Bawaba.Com
2004 gln nlg gnl
Algeria blast to hit LNG exports,
importers calm
Reuters, 01.20.04, 8:19 AM ET
Full Story: http://www.forbes.com/markets/newswire/2004/01/20/rtr1217715.html
By Margaret Orgill
LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - A huge explosion at the Skikda liquefied natural
gas (LNG) plant in Algeria ...
The
blast ripped through the Skikda LNG plant, one of two in Algeria, late on
Monday killing
at least 23 people and
shutting down all activity at the oil and gas refining complex...
A
port agent said the explosion, the worst accident at an LNG site in nearly 30
years ...
The
port at Skikda is designed to load small LNG tankers ...
"Skikda
can only take small ships...
Reuters
At least 27 dead in
Algeria blast, refinery shut
January 20, 2004
By Zohra Bensemra
Full
Story: http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp;:400d65e8:2f1f10da5ee06141?type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4165226
SKIKDA, Algeria (Reuters) - At least 27
workers died when a gas plant blew up ...
The powerful blast
and consequent fires devastated......
It
was the worst LNG accident since 1975 when about 40 people died in an explosion
in Staten Island, U.S., according to Andrew Flower, an independent gas
consultant...
Channelnewsasia.com
21 January 2004 0044 hrs (SST)
Algerian gas plant explosion
kills 27, injures 72
Full Story: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/67231/1/.html
ALGIERS
: At least 27 people were killed and 72 injured when a huge explosion,
apparently caused by a defective boiler, ripped through a liquefied natural gas
plant ...
He said
specialists
had filed a report "more than a year ago" indicating that the boiler
in question was defective. "Superficial repairs" had been carried out
on the boiler, he said.
A woman living close to
the plant, about 10 kilometres (six miles) outside Skikda, said: "There was
a heavy blast and everything started to shake and the windows of my apartment
were blown out."
Speaking
haltingly, she said the complex was engulfed in smoke and flames. "We
all ran out, we helped the handicapped and the old people," she said,
adding: "Many of them were in shock and the children were crying."
...
fire at the plant had been brought under control early Tuesday after raging for
almost eight hours.
Yet,
the Energy Industry Insists LNG does not Explode
1/21/04
MOBILE REGISTER
More bodies found at LNG
blast scene
At least 27 dead at facility similar to
terminals proposed for Mobile Bay
Full Story:
http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1074680100132040.xml
Searchers discovered
10 more bodies at a liquefied natural gas complex in Algeria leveled by an
explosion, raising the death toll to at least 27... Seventy-four people were injured...
dozen workers
were believed missing...
Information
available from the Halliburton Co. of Texas shows that the oil construction
giant had in recent years revamped the Algerian facility to the latest
performance standards...
Industry
officials and some government officials have said that such facilities have a
spotless safety record, could not explode, and would pose little risk to
surrounding communities. But in recent months, the Mobile Register has reported
that government officials have sometimes used faulty studies to make their case
to the public...
LNG industry
officials maintained that the accident in Algeria should not affect how the
public perceives LNG terminals in the United States.
"I would not make a direct link between the accident and any
U.S. site, Mobile included," said ExxonMobil spokesman Bob Davis in
Houston. "As tragic as the Algerian accident is, I don't think it negates
the outstanding 40-year safety record of LNG in the world."
Davis
said that the Algerian facility is "one of the oldest LNG facilities in the
world, vintage 1970s. I think certainly from our point of view, the technology
on these facilities has advanced substantially in that 30-year period."
But
a Halliburton Co. Web site states that its engineering branch, KBR, updated the
entire Skikda terminal as recently as 1999. The Web site touts the project as a
model of modern American workmanship.
"Halliburton
Company is pleased to announce that its recently completed Liquefied Natural Gas
Revamp Project at Skikda, Algeria, has passed all its performance tests,"
reads the company press release announcing the project's completion.
"KBR's
work included extensive revamp of the three LNG trains and associated utilities
and auxiliaries and a complete revamp of the complex's electrical power and
control systems. ...
Over 9,000,000 construction man-hours were expended. "
Lyons said the
reports he read Tuesday claim a high-pressure boiler in need of maintenance was
the cause of the accident.
"They
wouldn't have high-pressure boilers at an LNG receiving terminal. I don't see
any parallel in any respect to what is being contemplated anywhere along the
Gulf Coast as far as LNG receiving terminals," Lyons said.
Register
research, however, indicates that most existing LNG receiving terminals employ
numerous boilers, many of them generating high pressure. For instance, a newly
proposed LNG terminal in Freeport, Texas, would use six high-pressure vaporizers
connected to 12 boilers, according to documents posted on a U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Web site.
Most
LNG tankers are also powered by steam turbine engines that require large
high-pressure boilers. Scientists say that an accident or terrorist attack
involving a tanker could produce a fire that is much larger than an LNG fire on
land...
(Mobile Register Staff Reporters Bill
Finch, Ben Raines and Lee Davidson contributed to this article.)
Copyright
2004 al.com. All Rights Reserved.
UpstreamOnline.com
February 3, 2004
Industry
opponents have a field day
Full
Story: http://www.upstreamonline.com/news/article.jsp?Id=EPS_52937
By Dann Rodgers
Opponents
of LNG import projects in the US have wasted no time in pointing to last week's
tragedy in Algeria as highlighting safety concerns about such facilities
"The
Algerian explosion destroyed more than an LNG facility -- it destroyed the
industry myth that LNG is safe," said consumer
protection advocate Tim Riley, who hosts the website TimRileyLaw.com that
documents what he sees as the dangers of the fuel.
"Quite simply, LNG is too damn dangerous and the
energy industry has always known it. The American communities facing LNG
proposals have listened to the LNG 'safety spin' but have now heard the
explosive truth, galvanizing opposition.
"The blast was felt around the world and serves as a wake-up call to
private investors, financial institutions and insurance carriers who would risk
major losses from another inevitable LNG disaster," Riley
declared.
In Weaver's Cove,
Massachusetts, Mayor Edward Lambert opposes a local LNG import terminal proposal
precisely because of the Algerian disaster.
"This speaks to the credibility of those people
who are running around saying how safe this stuff is, saying it doesn't explode.
It clearly points to the safety concerns that these terminals don't belong in
populated areas."
Local Fire Chief Ed Dawson noted that fires at LNG import terminals are rare but
that the Algerian situation illustrates the danger they present. "The
chances of it happening here are very remote. But the reality of it is we just
had an incident in Algeria. The devastation speaks for
itself."
Again, the Energy
Industry's LNG Safety Claims Leave us Speechless
In Light
of The
Algerian LNG Disaster of January 19, 2004 Ask
Yourself...
How
Will The LNG Proponents Now
Spin LNG's "Safety"
Record Which
They Limited To The Past 40 Years Post
Dating The
1944 Cleveland Disaster?
Will
Their New "Safety" Record Commence
From January
20, 2004, Post
Dating
The
Algerian LNG Disaster?
Will
They Still Claim LNG IS Safe?
Will
They Continue To Claim
LNG Has An Outstanding
40-Year Safety Record?
Well,
The Answers May Be Provided By
Recent Quotes From
MOBILE REGISTER, January
21, 2004
More bodies found at
LNG blast scene
"I would not make a direct link between the accident and any U.S. site,
Mobile included," said ExxonMobil spokesman Bob Davis in Houston. "As
tragic as the Algerian accident is,
I
don't think it negates the outstanding 40-year safety record of LNG in the
world."
UpstreamOnline.com,
February
3, 2004
Industry
opponents have a field day
"Alabama State Docks Director James Lyons said the
Algerian
accident, which appears to have resulted from a
malfunctioning boiler, could not happen in the US. "They
wouldn't have high-pressure boilers at an LNG receiving terminal. I don't see a
parallel in any respect to what is being contemplated to build anywhere along
the Gulf Coast."
LNG
Proponents Scrambling
to Salvage Their Current Proposals in America Have
Very Little Wiggle-Room to Work With
As
They Advance Their Over Simplistic Rationalization
To The
One Billion Dollar Algerian LNG Disaster
i.e.
The
LNG Facility Explosion was not really an "LNG" Issue
but... was just a boiler malfunction.
February
23, 2004
LA TIMES
Blast Traced to LNG
Leak
Preliminary finding in the
probe of a Jan. 19 explosion in Algeria
Worries
proponents of California gas plants.
Full
Story: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lng23feb23,1,5084104.story?coll=la-home-business
By
Deborah Schoch
A recent explosion that killed 27 people at an Algerian natural gas complex is
believed to have started with a leak of liquefied natural gas, Algeria's top
U.S. emissary said last week, worrying proponents of LNG import terminals in
California and across the country.
The Algerian government initially blamed a faulty steam boiler. But Idriss
Jazairy, the Algerian ambassador to the U.S., said in an interview that
preliminary results of an investigation traced the accident to LNG that leaked
from a pipe, turned into a gas and exploded.
Industry
executives in the United States reacted with consternation to Jazairy's
comments, and some wondered privately whether another liquid gas, such as
propane — rather than LNG — might actually be responsible.
They
expressed concern that the burgeoning LNG import industry could suffer a major
setback if the investigation ended up concluding that LNG was the culprit in
the Jan. 19 explosion, which injured more than 80 people in the Algerian port
city of Skikda…
April 14, 2004
Report sheds new light on LNG blast in Algeria
Full
Story: http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/1081934271102960.xml
Document suggests that deadly explosion was caused by gas
vapor, not boiler
By
BEN RAINES
“A newly released document provides important insights
into the chain of events that led to the January explosion of a liquefied
natural gas facility in the African nation of Algeria.”
“Several scientists who
specialize in LNG research said the document indicates that a similar accident
could occur at LNG plants like those proposed for Mobile Bay and elsewhere in
the United States.”
“Initial reports blamed a faulty steam boiler for the
massive explosion and fire at the government-owned Skikda, Algeria, plant. Those
reports were incorrect, according to the new document presented by Sonatrach,
owner of the destroyed LNG plant. “
“A PowerPoint display titled "‘The Incident
at the Skikda Plant: Description and Preliminary Conclusions’ indicates,
instead, that a large amount of liquid gas escaped from a pipe and formed a
cloud of highly flammable and explosive vapor that hovered over the facility.
The cloud exploded after coming into contact with a flame source.”
“Most of the 27 people who died were killed by the
force of the blast, according to the report. The report lists a "‘few
casualties by fire,’ though the fire burned for eight hours.”
“But several scientists
who examined the new report told the Mobile Register that the type of accident
described in it could occur at an LNG facility in this country, regardless of
the type or number of boilers present. Almost any source of ignition, from a
cigarette lighter to a pilot light, could have ignited a vapor cloud.”
"‘I think this tells us that dealing with LNG
is a tricky and dangerous business,’ said James Fay, professor emeritus at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of the nation's leading LNG
scientists. ‘It was apparently a very large gas leak that went on for a while
before the explosion. That certainly doesn't give you a lot of faith in their
gas detection equipment, with all this gas leaking out. I guess this means
sometimes that equipment doesn't work.’"
"‘The fact that there was a vapor cloud is
huge," said Bill Powers, an engineer based in California who has studied
LNG terminals, siting issues for both onshore and offshore proposals. "We
don't know if it was an LNG vapor cloud or an LPG cloud or a mix of both, but,
either way, it means it is the kind of accident that could happen here.’"
“Powers also felt it was
noteworthy that Halliburton had conducted a major renovation of the Skikda plant
in 1999, updating all of the key safety equipment and computer systems.”
“A Halliburton Co. Web
site touts the revamped LNG terminal as a model of modern American
workmanship.”
"‘Halliburton Company is pleased to announce
that its recently completed Liquefied Natural Gas Revamp Project at Skikda,
Algeria, has passed all its performance tests," reads the company news
release announcing the project's completion. "KBR's work included extensive
revamp of the three LNG trains and associated utilities and auxiliaries and a
complete revamp of the complex's electrical power and control systems. ... Over
9,000,000 construction man-hours were expended.’"
“The three separate LNG
regasification plants or "trains" that were revamped by Halliburton
were destroyed in the explosion.”
“Powers said Halliburton's
engineers had missed a weak link in their safety planning for the facility.”
Copyright 2004 al.com. All Rights
Reserved.
Will
the LNG Spin-Doctors Have The Audacity to Continue Their
Head-Spinning Denial ?
Will
They Still Insist the Algerian LNG Disaster was Not Related to LNG?
Will
They Now Claim the LNG Disaster was just a "pipe malfunction" As
If That Were Somehow Comforting?
LNG Accidents Can Be Caused By A Multitude of Industrial
Malfunctions.
LNG accidents within the past 40
years
• Methane Princess Spill, 1965.
The
LNG discharging arms on a vessel which were disconnected
before the liquid lines had been completely drained – caused another LNG
accident
• Jules Verne Spill, May 1965.
Failure
of the liquid level instrumentation –
caused another LNG accident
• La Spezia, Italy, 1971.
Phenomenon
called rollover, where two layers of LNG having different densities and heat
content are allowed to form back flow of natural gas from the compressor to the
nitrogen line – caused another
LNG accident
• Montreal East, Quebec, Canada, 1972.
Explosion
occurred in the LNG liquefaction and peak shaving plant of Gaz Metropolitan in
Montreal East, Quebec. The accident occurred in the control room due to a back
flow of natural gas from the compressor to the nitrogen line.
• Staten Island Tank Fire, USA, 1973.
A fire erupted at an out-of-service LNG
tank that was being repaired. Forty workers then inside the tank were killed.
LNG, which had leaked through the liner during previous fillings, had
accumulated in the soil below and around the concrete tank wall berm. It has
been assumed that an electrical spark in one of the irons or vacuum cleaners
ignited the flammable gas reentering the tank.
• Massachusetts Barge Spill, July 1974.
After
a power failure and the
updated 04/21/08