A fire broke out Tuesday at a gathering centre in Kuwait's Burgan oilfield, the second largest in the world, slightly hurting five workers, Oil Minister Adel al-Sebeih said.
"The fire was a limited one and has been put out," about two hours after it started, Sebeih told AFP while inspecting the site.
Five people were hurt at the centre which was already shut for maintenance work, Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) said in a statement. Two of the injured were discharged after receiving first aid.
Hospital sources said that the wounded at the field -- the world's largest after Fawar in Saudi Arabia -- were three Indians, one Pakistani and a Romanian, all suffering burns.
The KOC, which is responsible for oil drilling and production, ordered a probe and said the fire at the gas condensates unit caused minor damage. Production would not be affected.
The fire broke out at gathering centre 2 at Burgan, which lies around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of Kuwait City.
The Burgan field, the first to start production in Kuwait in the 1930s, has an output of more than 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), around 75 percent of Kuwait's total daily production.
Sebeih was sworn in as oil minister last week and on Wednesday he faces an early test with a parliament opposed to a government plan to bring in foreign oil majors to develop northern fields.
Explosions rocked two of Kuwait's three refineries in June 2000, killing eight people and wounding 55 others and causing extensive damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Kuwait's OPEC quota from February 1 is running at 2.021 million bpd.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse 2001.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
