On August 25 local time, a major natural gas chemical project in Amur Oblast, the Russian Far East, which was still in the construction and commissioning phase, experienced a serious accident. As of the 26th, the explosion and fire have been confirmed to have caused 7 deaths, 6 of whom are Chinese citizens, and 9 Chinese citizens remain unaccounted for. The Russian side is still conducting search and rescue operations as well as investigating the accident.
The incident involved the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC), located near Sverdlovsk in Amur Oblast, on the Sino-Russian border. According to information provided by the project team on the 26th, search and rescue personnel found four more Chinese citizens’ bodies at the scene that day. This brings the total number of casualties to seven, including two confirmed Chinese citizens and one Russian citizen who died earlier. Nine Chinese citizens remain unaccounted for, and the search and rescue efforts are still ongoing. The deceased and those missing are all employees of the project contractor.
The accident also resulted in a large number of injuries. The project team stated that 152 people were injured, with 36 of them being hospitalized due to varying degrees of injury. A Russian Emergency Ministry Il-76 transport aircraft has arrived in Amur Oblast, ready to transport some of the injured patients to Russian federal-level medical facilities for further treatment.
The accident occurred on the morning of the 25th. The project team initially reported that a fire had broken out in the complex which was preparing to be put into operation.
Regarding the specifics of the accident, the Amur Natural Gas Chemical Complex stated that the fire occurred in the auxiliary process area of the cracking unit. Preliminary assessments indicate that the main equipment in the complex was not damaged. The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry’s Amur Regional Department reported on the 26th that the incident was described as “an explosion at the cracking unit”.
As of the 26th, the fire at the site has been extinguished. Currently, the area is still under the control of professionals who are handling the remaining flammable gases. At the same time, inspections are being conducted in the accident area.
The cause of the accident is still unclear. According to reports by Reuters, citing the Russian Investigative Committee, investigators are investigating in the direction of possible violations of industrial safety regulations regarding dangerous production facilities, and are working to determine the cause of the fire. The Amur provincial prosecution authority has also begun an investigation into the accident and has placed the investigation under the supervision of the leadership of the provincial procuratorate.
According to regulatory and court documents cited by the Russian newspaper, in the spring of this year, the Russian State Agency for Technical Supervision (Ростехнадзор) conducted inspections at the Amur Natural Gas Chemical Complex. Several issues related to explosion prevention and industrial safety were identified, including measures to prevent equipment from exploding, use of flammable materials in some industrial drainage structures, pipeline markings, and problems with steam pipeline operations.
The company was required to make improvements by May 25th, but it is reported that two of these tasks were not completed on time. By August 13th, about 12 days before the accident, the Amur Natural Gas Chemical Complex was fined 50,000 rubles by the court.
Amur Natural Gas Chemical Complex is one of Russia's largest petrochemical investment projects in recent years, and it is also an important project for energy and chemical cooperation between China and Russia. The project is jointly invested by Russian petrochemical giant Sibur Group and China Petrochemical Corporation, with each party holding a 60% and 40% stake respectively. The project is located near Sverdlovsk and has not yet entered production. At the time of the accident, some of the equipment was still in the commissioning stage.
According to the plan, once the complex is fully operational, it will produce approximately 2.3 million tons of polyethylene and 400,000 tons of polypropylene per year. The total polymer production capacity will be around 2.7 million tons, making it one of the largest polyethylene and polypropylene production projects in the world. The raw materials required for the project are mainly supplied by the Amur Natural Gas Processing Plant of Gazprom Rusgaz, which is located nearby. In recent years, due to factors such as equipment adjustments and changes in suppliers, the construction progress of the project has been delayed. Currently, it is still in the pre-commissioning phase.
