The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) South-South Zonal Coordinator Umesi Emenike confirmed a fire incident on Sunday near the Port Harcourt refinery.
Reuters cited Nigerian National Petroleum (NNPC) spokesman Ralph Ugwu as saying that the blast did not damage installations and did not affect operations at 210,000-barrels-per-day capacity refinery in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt.
The local government chairman Tamuno Williams told journalist that, "From what I have been told, there are casualties. Seven persons were said to have lost their lives."
Emenike was quoted by News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the NEMA officials were evaluating the situation to determine if there is loss of life and property.
The blast at the refinery is the result of illegal tapping of petroleum products by pipeline vandals.
