MOSCOW (MRC) -- Syrian civil defense teams were extinguishing a huge fire that swept a number of oil tankers loading crude oil from an installation near the country's main Homs refinery after a blast that hit the depot area, reported Reuters with reference to state media's statement.
An explosion had earlier hit a government-owned crude oil transportation company in the city and oil tankers loading crude oil from the installation then caught fire, state media reported.
The governor of Homs, Bassam Barsik, was quoted on state media as saying civil defense teams were working on extinguishing the fire that erupted during "the loading of crude oil".
"There are no human casualties and we are working on containing the spread of the fire," Barsik said.
It was not clear if the explosions were an accident or the result of sabotage in a war-torn country where violence has subsided but insurgents and rebels still wage attacks in government-held areas.
There have been hit-and-run attacks on government forces in the central province of Homs in recent months by remnants of Islamic State militants who take shelter in outlying, sparsely populated areas.
The Russian air force has also been active in recent weeks in helping the Syrian army bomb suspected hideouts of militants in the Homs area.
As MRC informed before, in early February, 2020, a fire in Syria’s Homs refinery was put out by civil defense and the refinery firefighting unit, shortly after a gas compressor in the 6th project exploded.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's DataScope report, PE imports to Russia decreased in January-November 2020 by 17% year on year and reached 569,900 tonnes. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounted for the greatest reduction in imports. At the same time, PP imports into Russia increased by 21% year on year to about 202,000 tonnes in the first eleven months of 2020. Propylene homopolymer (homopolymer PP) accounted for the main increase in imports.
MRC