{"id":205185,"date":"2026-03-24T11:52:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:52:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/large-oil-refinery-explosion-near-texas-coast-forces-residents-to-shelter-in-place-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T11:52:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:52:40","slug":"large-oil-refinery-explosion-near-texas-coast-forces-residents-to-shelter-in-place-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/large-oil-refinery-explosion-near-texas-coast-forces-residents-to-shelter-in-place-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Large oil refinery explosion near Texas coast forces residents to shelter in place – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morning Rundown: Passengers describe LaGuardia crash, a new go-between in the Iran war, and why Russia is throttling its most popular messaging app<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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A large explosion at an oil refinery near the Texas coast on Monday shot plumes of smoke into the air and forced nearby residents to shelter in place, officials said.
No one was injured in the explosion at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) east of Houston, Mayor Charlotte M. Moses said. She urged residents in parts of the west side of the city to stay put, saying firefighters had arrived.
\u201cThere\u2019s been an explosion, yes, but we\u2019re OK; everybody\u2019s OK,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re trying to put the fire out as quickly as possible.\u201d
The explosion comes amid a spike in gas prices<\/a> driven by uncertainty over the global oil supply because of the Iran war.
The refinery has about 770 employees and can process about 435,000 barrels of oil per day, according to Valero\u2019s website. The plant refines heavy sour crude oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.
Images and video posted online show a large plume of smoke and flames billowing out from the refinery. Some residents reported hearing a loud boom and seeing their windows shake.
\u201cFor your safety please remain in place until the \u2018All Clear\u2019 is given by emergency personnel,\u201d the City of Port Arthur said in a post on its Facebook page.
Valero did not respond to an email or call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
Texas state Rep. Christian Manuel said in a post on social media that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality had arrived at the refinery with air monitoring equipment and was working with local and state partners.
He told nearby residents to stay inside.
\u201cPlease limit outdoor activity, keep windows and doors closed, and follow guidance from local officials,\u201d he said.
The Associated Press
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morning Rundown: Passengers describe LaGuardia crash, a new go-between in the Iran war, and why Russia is throttling its most popular messaging app news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeA large explosion at an oil refinery near the Texas coast on Monday shot plumes of smoke into the air and forced nearby residents […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":205186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-205185","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-us","8":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}