An explosion occured at a PetroChina oil refinery Wednesday in Fushun City, northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Production at the unit had been halted, said a senior executive with the plant who did not give his name.

 

An investigation into the cause of the explosion is underway.

 

Fushun Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation, has an asset value of 20.9 billion yuan (3.2 billion U.S. dollars), and an annual crude oil processing capacity of 10 million tonnes.

 

On Sept. 7 last year, another blast occurred at the company's No.3 oil plant, but no casualties were reported.