On Sunday, March 1, a fire broke out at the charging pumps at the SEVIA unit at Esmeraldas in what was the third such incident at the refinery in nine months. The SEVIA unit processes vacuum residue to reduce its viscosity and produce fuel oil, as part of the refinery’s regular operations.
Firefighters brought the fire under control by 9:35 p.m. on March 1, the fire was fully under control. Officials preemptively and temporarily halted refinery operations, Petroecuador said. Details on the cause for the fire were not immediately available.
At the end of January, the Esmeraldas refinery was the site of a fire incident. At the time, Petroecuador said the fire was under control, and there were no injuries at at the refinery.
This year’s incidents follow the one from the end of May 2025 when a fire halted production at the Esmeraldas refinery, which is close to the border with Colombia. The fire prompted Petroecuador to shut down operations “to safeguard the security of the facilities and personnel.”
Smoke billows from a refinery fire at Equdor’s largest refinery.
Source: AsiaOne News screen capture
In the May 2025 incident, five people received medical attention due to minor effects of smoke inhalation.
Last year, units at Esmeraldas, the biggest of Petroecuador’s three refineries in the country, led the downtime of Ecuadorean refinery units, per company information cited by BNamericas.