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SINGAPORE: Industry sources have said Shell's fire-hit Pulau Bukom oil refinery may remain shut for at least a month.
This comes as efforts are now in place to further secure the incident site for investigation to safely commence.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Teo Chee Hean visited the area on Thursday night and on Friday morning to assess the situation.
In a media statement, Mr Teo said there has been good cooperation between Shell and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).
He noted the good mutual assistance in the industry.
Mr Teo said the key thing now is to make sure the fire does not re-ignite and that residual hydrocarbons from the flames are properly dealt with.
He added that going forward, Singapore should learn from this incident and prevent such fires in future.
Shell is tight-lipped about how much money is going up in smoke due to the incident at its biggest refinery.
But some analysts said disrupted production would affect regional supplies of Shell's products in the short term.
To prevent further disruptions, firefighters are standing by at Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal just in case.
SCDF said water jets were being used to disperse traces of fuel vapour.
In addition, it is conducting foaming operations at certain parts of the incident site.
-CNA/wk
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