Explosion At Petronas Methanol Labuan

The island of Labuan was rocked on Monday when there was a large explosion at the Malaysian Petronas Methanol Labuan (PML)’s S1001 controlled natural gas Flare Tip. Operation at the RM511mil PML methanol facility was ceased. This kind incident usually happened when workers get complacent with safety procedures, especially in hazardous working area.

Eighty-two PML contract workers and 46 of its staff were working there when the explosion occurred at 11.37am on Monday but no one was hurt.

Two fire engines from the Labuan Fire and Rescue Service and the PML rescue unit rushed to the scene and controlled the situation within 30 minutes.

Speaking at a news conference, PML production chief Mohd Kamis Abdul Manap said a detailed investigation would be conducted to determine the cause of the explosion.

“We will conduct a comprehensive investigation before operations can continue. We will identify if there was weakness in the safety aspect,” said Mohd Kamis.

The PML plant was built in 1984 and its biggest customer is Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE) in Kuantan, Pahang.

Other markets include Japan, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan and China.

In 2007, two Petronas sub-contract workers were seriously burned in an explosion while carrying out works at the PML plant in Rancha-Rancha.

It is high time for the Malaysia’s only petroleum company to buck up on its safety audit and monitoring.

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