An explosion at an oil refinery in Iran during a visit by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday killed two people and injured 12, the Mehr news agency said.
Mr. Ahmadinejad was not hurt and appeared on state television shortly after the blast giving a speech marking the inauguration of a new part of the refinery. The semi-official Mehr said the cause of the blast and fire was a gas leak, giving no source for its information.
"A technical fault led to an explosion in one of the units of this refinery," the Fars news agency earlier said, referring to the oil facility in the southwestern city.
"The fire was immediately controlled. The blast did not interrupt the president’s program," Fars added.
Thick smoke was seen rising from the refinery in Abadan, but firefighters had the blaze under control, according to Agence-France Presse.
Any damage to the plant would have no impact on oil exports from the world’s fifth-biggest exporter as it is involved in producing gasoline, mostly for domestic consumption, according to Reuters.
Mr. Ahmadinejad’s presence at the inauguration shows the importance Tehran places on increasing its oil refining capacity at a time when international sanctions have squeezed its ability to import the automotive fuel.
Iran’s oil production stands around 4 million barrels per day. Its oil exports are little above 2 million barrels per day. Iran’s economy relies heavily on oil export revenues, around 80 to 90 percent of total export earnings and 40 to 50 percent of the government budget.
Iran holds the world’s third largest known oil reserves, 132.5 billion barrels. The vast majority of Iran’s crude oil reserves are located in giant onshore fields in the southwestern Khuzestan region near the Iraqi border and the Arab Gulf. GDP in Iran is estimated at $416.7 billion, and the population is estimated at 78 million people.