A fire occurred June 17 at Infineum’s lubricant additives manufacturing plant in Cologne, Germany. No one was injured, but the company said today that it is still assessing damage from the incident.
The blaze broke out at 11:35 p.m. that day, according to a statement from the company, a 50-50 joint venture between ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell, which is headquartered in Milton Hill, United Kingdom. Infineum said the incident stemmed from a leak of hydrocarbon feedstock in the northern section of the facility. Articles by local media reported a leak of a liquefied natural gas pipeline.
The local fire brigade, assisted by Infineum firefighters, worked for some hours to control the incident. No injuries were reported, and Infineum said there was no impact on neighboring residents.
In a written statement, the company said today that it was still assessing the impact on plant operations. It did not say whether the facility was running or if any operations have been halted.
Infineum is one the world’s four largest suppliers of lubricant additive packages. The Cologne facility is one of three manufacturing sites that the company operates in Europe, the others being located in Berre, France, and Vado Ligure, Italy.