BEIJING - Chinese firefighters extinguished a blaze that raged for over 15 hours after two oil pipelines exploded in the northeastern port of Dalian, Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.The fire threatened a tank farm in Dalian, a port which is home to part of China's strategic petroleum reserves, although it appears to have been contained without spreading to the tanks.

A pipe transporting crude oil from a ship to a storage tank blew up on Friday evening, causing a second pipeline nearby to explode also, Xinhua said. No one was injured.Both pipelines belonged to state-owned China National Petroleum Corp., China's largest oil company and parent of Petrochina.
CNPC manages both commercial tank farms and a portion of China's strategic reserves in Dalian. State media did not say at which site the fire occurred.

However, the incident appears to have drawn an unusual amount of attention from top officials, with President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and security chief Zhou Yongkang all issuing instructions on preventing the fire from spreading. Courtesy:REUTERS AFRICA