Explosions at Oil Refineries in Hungary, Romania Spark Sabotage Suspicions

Explosions shook a Hungarian and a Romanian oil refinery on Monday, 20 October. Investigations are underway in both cases, and many circumstances remain unknown.

The first explosion hit the Petrotel-Lukoil refinery in Ploieşti, Romania, at about 11.30am local time on Monday. Media reports say the blast occurred in the industrial sewerage system, with the hatch of a sewerage well being ejected during maintenance work. At the time, the refinery platform was undergoing a major shutdown for repairs. The Petrotel-Lukoil plant is one of Romania’s largest oil-processing facilities and is owned by the Russian company Lukoil.