Fire at Saudi oil facility killed two: company

Riyadh: Two workers died in a fire at a crude oil facility near Riyadh, state oil company Saudi Aramco said today, giving more details about the blaze which occurred a day earlier.

“We sadly announce the tragic loss of two workers and 16 injured from a fire incident near Alwesa,” the Saudi company said on its Twitter account.

Yesterday Saudi Aramco said only that several workers were injured, and operations were unaffected.

It has not given the cause of the blaze.

The company is at the heart of Saudi Arabia’s wide-ranging Vision 2030 plan to wean the economy of the world’s biggest petroleum exporter off oil.

The kingdom plans to float less than five percent of Saudi Aramco on the stock market.

The proceeds would help form what will become the world’s biggest state investment fund, with around USD 2 trillion in assets.

PTI