'1 Dead, 9 Injured' S-Oil CEO "Doing Our Best to Prevent Further Damage"

On the morning of the 20th, executives and employees, including CEO Hussein Al-Katani, at S-Oil in Onsan-eup, Ulju-gun, Ulsan City, bowed their heads in apology for the explosion and fire accident that occurred the previous day.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] S-Oil apologized for the explosion and fire at its Ulsan plant and promised to minimize damage and prevent recurrence.

Hussein Al-Qatani, CEO of S-Oil, held a press conference at the Onsan plant in Ulsan on the 20th and said, "I offer my deepest condolences and apologies to the deceased. I also bow my head in apology to the bereaved families," adding, "We will do our best to prevent the damage from spreading." CEO Al-Qatani also said, "We apologize to the injured workers and the concerned local residents. We will do our utmost to ensure they receive the best treatment and recover quickly with sincere care."

S-Oil announced that it will suspend operations at the plant until the cause of the accident is identified and measures to prevent recurrence are established, and will also temporarily halt the operation of the related heavy oil cracking facility and associated petrochemical facilities.

CEO Al-Qatani added, "We will make full use of our inventory and domestic and international networks to ensure there is no disruption in the supply of petroleum products to the domestic market." He continued, "Once again, I sincerely apologize to all those affected and to the public. We will make every effort to ensure that such an accident never happens again."

According to the Ulsan Fire Headquarters, the explosion and fire occurred at around 8:51 p.m. on the 19th. The fire authorities issued a Level 2 response and have been conducting firefighting operations for over 11 hours. So far, the accident has resulted in 10 casualties, including 1 death, 4 seriously injured, and 5 with minor injuries. Most of them have been confirmed as burn patients.

The reason the flames have been difficult to control at the site appears to be due to the highly flammable butane. The accident occurred during the manufacturing process of 'alkylate,' an additive that uses butane to increase the octane rating of gasoline. The initial explosion is presumed to have occurred during a test run after emergency repair of a malfunctioning butane compression valve.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.