06 February 2026
Türkiye’s largest oil refinery was hit by an explosion on 29 January that caused a large fire to break out. The incident happened at a refinery in Izmit, northwestern Turkey, which is operated by oil company Tüpras. No fatalities were reported but the refinery was evacuated as firefighters extinguished a large fire.
Representative image: ShutterstockThe Izmit refinery is the largest in Turkey and located around 62 miles (100km) east of Istanbul. The explosion happened in the early hours of the morning and forced the evacuation of the whole site. Emergency personnel attended the scene, including firefighters who tackled a blaze that broke out.
According to local news, the explosion originated at a gasoline tank. Tüpras and local authorities have not released further information on the blast or about potential damage to the refinery.
The incident isn’t the first to have occurred at the facility. In November 2024, an explosion and fire injured 12 people. Tüpras said in a statement that the explosion and resulting fire occurred during maintenance work on a compressor. The company’s in-house fire department quickly reacted to emergency alarms and were able to bring a blaze under control within a couple of hours, the oil refiner said.
The Izmit refinery has a capacity of around 11 million tons per year.
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