The Shuaiba oil refinery south of Kuwait City. AFP
The Shuaiba oil refinery south of Kuwait City. AFP
The Shuaiba oil refinery south of Kuwait City. AFP
The Shuaiba oil refinery south of Kuwait City. AFP

Fire in Kuwait briefly halts petroleum coke exports


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Coke exports from Kuwait's National Petroleum Company were paused after a fire broke out in the Shuaiba Industrial Area in the early hours of Friday, the company said.

“The accident did not result in any injuries, and coal exports were temporarily suspended until the safety of the site was secured,” the company said on Twitter.

Petroleum coke is a by-product of the oil refining process and usually carries low risk of combustion on transport. The fire is thought to have started in a pipeline.

It is the third fire in four months at facilities under the control of the Kuwait National Petroleum company. On January 14, a blaze at the Al Ahmadi port refinery killed two people and injured 10.

Kuwait's Minister of Oil, Dr Muhammad Al Fares, said last week's incident was under investigation and visited the injured in hospital.

Another fire at the same refinery in October 2021 caused two hospital admissions and other staff were treated for smoke inhalation on site.

Neither previous fire affected refinery activities or exports.

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The 12 breakaway clubs

England

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur

Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus

Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets

White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogenChromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxideUltramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica contentOphiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on landOlivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour

It Was Just an Accident

Director: Jafar Panahi

Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr

Rating: 4/5

Closing the loophole on sugary drinks

As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.

The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.

Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.

Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
 

Not taxed:

Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.

Updated: January 21, 2022, 11:32 AM