BP Not Insured for Texas Refinery Blast

The BP refinery is the third largest in the United States and processes 460,000 barrels of crude oil a day. A BP spokesperson said that the damage caused to the refinery and the cost of lost production would not be covered by insurance, in line with BP's policy of "self-insurance." BP had insurance to cover third-party and personal liability.

The BP Texas City explosion was the deadliest in America's gas and chemical industry since 1990, when 17 were killed at an ARCO chemical plant in Channelview, Texas.

Damage was isolated to one section of the 1,200 acre facility, and the rest of plant was operating normally. BP officials said that the blast occurred in an isomerisation unit used to produce octane for gasoline.

BP has operated the plant, first opened in 1934, since 1999 when the company bought Amoco.