Oil Rig Blast 'not Terrorism'

The explosion on a Texan crude oil refinery that claimed at least 14 lives and left more than 100 people injured remains a mystery, BP said today.

Terrorism, says the British oil giant, was not the cause of yesterday's incident at the 470,000 barrel-a-day facility, the third largest in the US. The explosion occurred in a unit that makes components that boost octane in petrol.

"We have no reason to believe this was anything caused by an outside agent," said Hugh Depland, a company spokesman.

BP's chief executive, John Browne, travelled to Texas today to meet employees and families affected by the explosion. Company officials and area health officials said that of the 100 hurt, some were in critical condition. There are still some people unaccounted for.

"We have a process to account for everyone working in the plant at the time of the incident, and we are proceeding with that process. This is a major focus at this time," Don Parus, BP's refinery manager, said on the company's website.

This latest incident took place just a year after another blast at the same refinery. On March 30 2004, a large explosion and fire occurred, but there were no casualties.

That accident resulted in citations for 14 alleged violations from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), which has started an investigation into Wednesday's explosion.

The refinery involved is BP's largest, stretching over 1,200 acres and employing about 1,800 workers. Its website claims that the plant produces about 30% of BP's fuel supply in North America.

Prices rose after yesterday's sharp fall, when crude oil fell $2.22 a barrel, or 4%, its biggest one-day drop this year, following the US government's finding that crude supplies had soared to their highest since July 2002. Crude oil for May delivery was up 19 cents at $54 (Â28.8) a barrel after jumping as much as 1.3% to $54.51.

In the past week, prices fell by 6.3% from a record $57.60 on March 17. They rose 46% in the past year amid strong demand, particularly from China, which is experiencing robust economic growth.

The average weekly retail price of petrol in the US jumped to a record high of $2.11 a gallon on March 21, the US energy department said in a report yesterday. Record prices may hurt the economy as consumers divert a greater part of their income for transport.

The explosion at the BP plant came weeks before the so-called driving season in the US, which lasts for about three months, running from the Memorial day holiday in late May to the Labour day holiday in early September.