NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two crude oil storage tanks were on fire Friday at a Denbury Resources Inc facility in Denham Springs, Louisiana, after an explosion in one of the tanks on Thursday night, according to company and Louisiana state officials.
The fire prompted the evacuation of 30 homes in the area, according to the Governor's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness.
There were no injuries resulting from the fires in the two tanks that have a capacity of 2,000 barrels (84,000 gallons) and the initial fire which started around 10:30 p.m. CDT on Thursday (0330 GMT Friday), Jack Collins, executive director, investor relations, at Plano, Texas-based Denbury, said in an email.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, "although there were thunderstorms in the area when it began," said Collins, who added that Denbury was working with local emergency response officials in the Livingston Parish area to determine the best course of action.
The state's Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness was informed at approximately 10:55 p.m. CDT on Thursday, Mike Steele, communications director at the office, said on Friday.
He said heat from the blaze prevented the application of foam to put out the fire, and that water was being used to cool down the tanks and allow the foam to be used.
Denbury's Collins said via email that the incident has not affected the company's oil production in the area.
Collins told Reuters via phone that the tanks store oil from the Lockhart Crossing oil field.
Denbury is an independent oil and gas company with operations in the U.S. Rocky Mountain and Gulf Coast regions.
The company is the largest oil and natural gas producer in both Mississippi and Montana, according to the company's website, and had total proved reserves of 462 million barrels of oil equivalent at year-end 2011.
Denbury on Thursday announced adjusted net income (non-GAAP)of $123 million for the first quarter of 2013, or $0.33 per diluted share.
By Robert Gibbons Additional reporting by Anna Louie Sussman; Editing by Nick Zieminski
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