Refined oil production to be cut after refinery fire

? A fire broke out in a Kuwaiti refinery Thursday, and the country’s production of refined oil will be cut by 2 percent as a temporary, precautionary measure, officials said.

Overall exports will not be affected by the blaze at the Shuaiba refinery, the smallest of Kuwait’s three facilities, a spokesman for the state-run petroleum organization said.

Production will be reduced by 20,000 barrels of oil a day, said Mohammed al-Ajmi of the Kuwait National Petroleum Co. The country produces about 900,000 barrels of refined petroleum a day.

Asked how long the cut would last, al-Ajmi said it could be “hours or days.” Shuaiba produces 200,000 barrels of oil a day.

Kuwait exports about 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, of which 750,000 barrels are refined product.

The fire broke out in the gas flashline, but nobody was injured, and it was extinguished in one hour, al-Ajmi said.