Alon Refinery Explosion
Updated at 4:40 pm
Anytime you feel your house shake from an event 40 miles away, you know it's serious. This morning's explosion at the Alon Refinery in Big Spring was a reminder that the oil and gas business is a dangerous one.
Here's a photo circulating through the 'net, uncredited, from the initial explosion. I don't know if this was taken in Big Spring or in one of the nearby communities like Colorado City Coahoma. Judging by the shadows in the photo, the photographer seems to be looking north(ward), so it's probably set in Big Spring itself. My thanks to Kelly Stark for forwarding the image.
Update (3:00 pm): Robert Thomas emailed the following photo, again uncredited. This is a familiar view of the refinery from I-20, west of the facility (as you're leaving Big Spring). It looks like something from Dante's "Inferno," doesn't it?
Update (4:40 pm): Here's another photographic perspective, provided via email by Danny Lunsford. The flame coming from the "tower" on the right side of the photo is a flare of waste gas, a part of the normal operation of the plant. The flame near the middle of the photo is not.
Local news reports are that all employees are "accounted for," but I haven't heard any report about injuries. Update: Reports say that only one person was four people were injured, and no injuries are life-threatening. Amazing.
This refinery is not huge, compared to the big ones along the Gulf Coast, but its 70,000 barrel per day throughput will still be felt in a market where supplies are already tight.
John, thanks for correcting my slip-up. I was thinking "Coahoma" but typing "Colorado City."
The jump in gas prices is an indication of how the market runs as much on emotion as on fact.
Posted by: Eric at February 18, 2008 03:44 PMAmen.
Posted by: Janie at February 18, 2008 09:32 PMEnergy Independence Now!
No more Oil Wars!
Stop funding the terrorist!
Drill in Anwar.
Build more nuclear power plants
Use More coal.
Use more natural gas
Turn trash into energy
Double the efficiency of windmills and solar cells.
You forgot free chocolate for everyone.
Posted by: Eric at February 19, 2008 07:57 PMAbout the publisher
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From the angle of the light and the look of the stadium, I'd guess the top shot is from the north side of Coahoma looking west.
Don't know about Midland, but down here in Pecos, the gas prices jumped from the $2.85-$2.92 range to $3.12-$3.20 by early this afternoon, and IIRC, the same thing happened in West Texas two years ago when the Valero refinery north of Amarillo exploded.
Posted by: John at February 18, 2008 03:37 PM