(Combines urgents, adds details, background)
HOUSTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) - A storage tank pump fire wasextinguished at Marathon Petroleum Corp's 451,000 barrelper day (bpd) Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas, onThursday afternoon, about an hour after it broke out, accordingto local media reports.
Marathon said no injuries were reported due to the blaze atthe refinery, which was owned by BP Plc until the firstof this month.
Texas City emergency officials said hydrocarbons in aretention area around the storage tank were ignited by the fire,sending a large plume of black smoke into the air.
Marathon spokesman Shane Pochard declined to say ifproduction at the refinery was affected by the fire, which brokeout in hoses connected to the pump.
"The tank was not on fire," Pochard said.
The fire left the tank covered with black soot, according tovideo taken by local television stations.
Pochard said he did not know if the tank contained crude oilor refined products.
Under BP's ownership, the refinery gained a deadlyreputation as the site of a March 23, 2005, explosion, whichkilled 15 workers and injured 180 others, the worst U.S.refinery disaster of the first decade of the 21st century.
BP sold the refinery to Marathon as part of a $2.4 billionsale of Gulf Coast assets that closed on Feb. 1.
Marathon also owns an 80,000 bpd refinery across the streetfrom the Galveston Bay Refinery. (Reporting by Erwin Seba; editing by Gunna Dickson)
BP (BP.)
