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Blast at oil and gas facility in New York

A massive blast ripped through an oil and gas facility off Staten Island in New York on Friday, triggering a major blaze, local television reported.

One eyewitness described hearing a huge explosion, while television footage showed thick black smoke belching out of the facility.

There were no reports of any casualties.

A New York Fire Department spokesman said it was not immediately clear what had caused the blaze.

US Coast Guard officials said the facility was owned by Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company.

Initial reports from fire officials described the barge as carrying propane.

Burning oil from the facility appeared to spread into the Arthur Kill waterway, a busy shipping thoroughfare between Staten Island and New Jersey state.

Several residents living up to three miles away told local television that the explosion was violent enough to shake the windows in their houses.

New York, like the rest of the United States, is currently on a state of high alert for a possible terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, oil prices spiked up by almost a dollar a barrel on world markets on news of the massive blast.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030221/ap_on_re_us/refinery_fire

Staten Island Oil Facility Burning
21 minutes ago Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

By ELIZABETH LeSURE

NEW YORK - An explosion rocked an oil storage facility at the edge of Staten Island, sending black smoke and flames hundreds of feet into the air

We have a preliminary report that tanker was transferring a product or was being fueled and somehow ignited," Fire Department Chief William Van Wart said.

It wasn't immediately clear whether any of the dozens of oil tanks at the ExxonMobil storage facility burned.

FBI (news - web sites) spokesman Steve Kodak in Newark, N.J., said there was no indication of terrorism. However, FBI officials in Washington said they were still examining it because a refinery is the type of infrastructure terrorists might target.

The Department of Homeland Security "is closely monitoring the situation with local state authorities and other federal agencies as well as assisting in the coordination of the response," said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

The explosion, which could be heard several miles away, occurred at the edge of Port Mobile, near the Outerbridge Crossing that links the island to Woodbridge, N.J., in the southwestern part of Staten Island, said a spokeswoman for the Staten Island borough office.

It was reported shortly after 10 a.m., according to a spokeswoman for the New York Fire Department. No injuries were immediately reported.

City officials said residents were not in immediate danger.

"At this point, people should not take any special precautions. It's unlikely this could spread to a residential area," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said shortly after the fire was reported.