Explosion reported at oil refinery in NW Turkiye

ISTANBUL -- An explosion occurred at an oil refinery of the Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation (Tupras) in Turkiye's northwestern Kocaeli province on Thursday, prompting authorities to dispatch multiple emergency teams to the site.

In a statement, Tupras said that a flare-up occurred in the tank area of its Izmit refinery at around 9:30 pm local time (1830 GMT) and was swiftly brought under control by technical safety teams, adding that no employees were affected and operations are continuing normally.

Video footage aired by broadcaster Halk TV showed flames and thick black smoke rising over the facility. The broadcaster said that numerous ambulances and emergency teams were sent to the site. Refinery workers were evacuated as a precaution.

The Izmit refinery is one of Turkiye's largest refineries, processing about 12.7 million tonnes of crude oil and semi-finished feedstock in 2024 and producing around 12.1 million tonnes of petroleum products, according to Tupras' website.