US embassy cable - 05ALGIERS2055

UNCLAS ALGIERS 002055 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET, ETRD, EWWT, PTER, PINR, ASEC, AG 
SUBJECT: SKIKDA REFINERY FIRE EXPECTED TO HAVE NO EFFECT ON 
PRODUCTION 
 
 
 1. (U) This cable has been sent sensitive but unclassified; 
please protect accordingly. 
 
2. (SBU) Algeria's second largest crude oil refinery at 
Skikda experienced a fire October 4 that burned through the 
night and into today.  Early morning reports to us from local 
industry officials said the fire had spread to three crude 
shoretanks.  While local firefighters had managed to stop the 
spread of the fire, all units within the refinery were down 
and industry representatives were doubtful any vessels would 
be loaded in the next few days.  Later in the morning, 
however, Skikda Sonatrach officials told EconOff that 
production would not be affected by the incident, and vessels 
would be loaded as normal.  As of 10:30 am local time, 
industry sources on the ground reported to us that two tanks 
were still on fire within the confines of the crude tank 
farm, which comprises 18 tanks.  They also reported that a 
vessel docked alongside the terminal waiting to load a cargo 
of fuel oil was unaffected.  Industry representatives told 
EconOff that not all the lines and tanks at the refinery had 
been affected (which tracks Sonatrach information), but the 
refinery has not yet resumed operations. 
 
3. (SBU) According to Ministry of Energy sources who spoke 
with us, an electrician contracted to replace an electrical 
pylon set off a spark that caused the fire and spread to a 
crude storage tank.  The electrician burned to death and was 
the sole fatality reported.  Four colleagues of the 
electrician were also reported in critical condition from 
burns.  Previous reports of an explosion at the facility 
appear to be erroneous, as do initial unconfirmed casualty 
reports of 27 dead and 600 injured. 
 
4. (U) Background: Skikda is Algeria's largest crude oil 
refinery with a designed capacity of 323,000 barrels/day. 
The plant can process 15 million tons/year of Saharan Blend 
crude and 300,000 tons/year of sour crudes imported through 
the Skikda oil terminal, which is linked to the refinery by 
pipeline.  Algeria exports 1.4 million barrels of crude oil 
daily, of which about 85% is destined for Western Europe. 
Italy is the main market, followed by Germany and France. The 
U.S. market accounts for the bulk of the remaining 15% of 
Algeria's crude oil exports.  Algeria is the third largest 
U.S. source of liquefied natural gas imports at approximately 
120 billion cubic feet per year. 
ERDMAN