1 dead, 6 wounded in Rotterdam port explosion

An explosion at a storage facility for petroleum products in Rotterdam port resulted in one fatality and six injuries on Thursday, according to officials. The cause of the explosion is under investigation by police. Gunvor, a major energy commodities trading company, reported that an "incident" occurred during maintenance work on a storage tank.

Police stated there was no immediate evidence of sabotage and that all potential scenarios were being examined. Rotterdam, Europe's largest port, houses various oil refineries, liquefied natural gas terminals, and petrochemical facilities. Notably, Shell's 404,000-barrel/day Pernis plant is located there. The blast took place around 11:30am.

Gunvor is collaborating with local authorities, while Shell confirmed that its operations at the port were not affected. A temporary decrease in gas sendout from Rotterdam's Gate LNG terminal and fluctuating flows were observed, though it remains unclear if these were due to the explosion or an unrelated power outage elsewhere in the port.

LNG terminals were unaffected, and ExxonMobil temporarily shut down all units at its 191,000 barrels/day Rotterdam refinery due to a power outage, although the port had encountered multiple power outages earlier in the day, none of which were linked to the blast, according to the local safety authority.