LABUAN: A large explosion at the Petronas Methanol Labuan's (PML) S1001 contolled natural gas flare tip yesterday, caused operations at the RM511 million methanol plant to cease.
Eighty-two PML contract workers and 46 of its staff were working when the explosion occurred at 11.37am. No injuries were reported.
Two fire engines from the Labuan Fire and Rescue Service and the PML rescue unit rushed to the scene and brought the situation under control within 30 minutes.
Speaking at a news conference, PML production chief, Mohd Kamis Abdul Manap, said a detailed invesitgation would be conducted to determine the cause of the explosion.
"We will conduct a comprehensive investigation before operations can continue. We will identify if there was weakness in the safety aspect," said Mohd Kamis.
The PML plant was built in 1984 and its biggest customer is Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) in Kuantan, Pahang.
Other markets include, Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan and China.
In 2007, two Petronas sub-contract workers were seriously burned in an explosion while carrying out works at the PML plant in the Rancha-Rancha industrial area. — Bernama