Europe's biggest oil refinery has resumed operations after most of its electricity supply was restored following a devastating fire more than three weeks ago, Shell said on Thursday. "Repairs to the electricity supply at Shell Pernis have mainly been completed," the Anglo-Dutch oil giant said in a statement, adding "most of the factories in the plant have been restarted including those that needed permission from authorities."
The massive Rotterdam-based plant halted production after a huge blaze on July 29, which Shell said was caused by a short-circuit followed by a fire at a substation. "We are investigating the underlying cause of the short-circuit," Shell said.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control in the early hours of that morning. But a second incident occurred the following day during the cleaning of one of the factories when there was a leak of a colourless, highly reactive gas, hydrogen fluoride. This incident too was being probed.