(UPDATE: As of 5:30 p.m. local time, the fire has been extinguished, according to the Marathon spokesman.)

By ALISON SIDER

A spokesman for Marathon Petroleum said hoses connected to a tank at its Galveston Bay refinery caught fire Thursday, and the company is working to extinguish the blaze.

A Texas City Emergency Management alert originally stated that a tank was on fire at the 451,000-bpd refinery.

But a later alert stated that a pump is on fire next to a tank. "Material on the ground caught fire," the alert added.

Shane Pochard, a spokesman for Marathon Petroleum, said the fire has not caused any injuries nor had any offsite impact.


Dow Jones Newswires
-- Additional reporting by Deborah Hallene of Hydrocarbon Processing

(Editor's note: Marathon formally acquired the refinery from BP on February 1. Known previously as the BP Texas City refinery, it has a long history of environmental violations and accidents.)