The explosion occurred at 3.13pm yesterday at Panjin Haoye while workers were carrying out maintenance work at an alkylation facility, Chinese state television reported earlier today.

Panjin Haoye is an independent refinery and chemical producer in the city of Panjin in Liaoning province in northeastern China.

Thirty people were also lightly injured, according to the TV report, which said the fire has been brought under control.

Xu Peng, an analyst with consultancy JLC that closely tracks the production of independent refineries, estimated Haoye was processing at 62.5% of its crude refining capacity of 130,000 barrels per day (bpd) through 2022.

The plant processed 460,000 tonnes of crude in December, or roughly 110,000bpd, according to another China-based trade source.

JLC’s Xu and several trading sources estimated that the site may be closed for months.

Calls to Panting Haoye for comment were unanswered.

A year ago, Panjin Haoye was among three independent refineries named by the Liaoning provincial government to have evaded fuel taxes amid a broad national clampdown to consolidate its massive refining sector.