(MENAFN- AFP) Three employees of state-owned oil giant Petrobras were hurt Monday in an explosion at a refinery near the northern city of Salvador, Brazil's largest company said.
Petrobras, currently mired in a huge corruption scandal involving multimillion kickbacks for politicians, said it was investigating the cause of the explosion at the Landulpho Alves Refinery (RLAM).
One worker's body was 75 percent burned while another two suffered less serious burns in the blast, which Petrobras said did not affect the refinery's supplies.
"The injured were quickly tended to by refinery medical personnel and taken to hospital. The company is providing the necessary assistance," Petrobras said in a statement.
It added that there was "no environmental damage and market supply will not be affected."
The RLAM refinery has capacity for 323,000 barrels a day of 31 oil derivatives including diesel, gasoline, kerosene, asphalt and lubricants.
It chiefly supplies northeastern Brazil although some products are exported to the United States and Argentina.
Petrobras refines 2.1 million barrels of oil a day across 17 plants, which is insufficient for satisfying domestic demand. The company is looking to hike capacity to 3.9 million barrels a day by 2030.
But the kickbacks scandal, which surfaced last year, has buffeted Petrobras' share price and reputation as it pins its future growth hopes on extracting huge oil deposits lying deep beneath layers of salt in the Atlantic.
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