A powerful explosion at a BP oil refinery in Texas yesterday has left 14 people dead and another 100 injured.

The company said that tens of other workers were still unaccounted for after the blast at its facility near Texas City, the third-largest refinery in the United States.

The cause of the explosion was not known but a terrorist attack was not suspected. "We have no reason to believe this was anything caused by an outside agent," said BP spokesman Hugh Depland.

Damage was isolated to one section of the sprawling 1,200 acre facility, and the rest of the site was operating normally, he added.

The explosion rattled buildings and broke windows for miles around. Flames shot nearly 100ft into the air, burning fiercely orange. A huge cloud of black smoke rose into the sky and firefighters took several hours to extinguish the blaze.

John Yarbor, a plant employee, said he was 90ft from the unit when it exploded but suffered no major injuries.

"It literally lifted you up and slammed you to the ground,", he said. "I could feel the heat on me and just ran."

Rose Martin, who works near the refinery, said: "It shook everything. As soon as I walked out the door (to see it), it was nothing but fire and black smoke."

Don Parus, BP site director, said: "We believe 14 people lost their lives as a result of the fire. It’s a sad day for BP."

Some of the injured remain in a critical condition. More than 70 of those hurt were working in the refinery, while others were outside the complex and hurt by flying glass and other debris.

Company officials said the blast occurred in an isomerisation unit used to produce octane for gasoline, which had been running normally before the explosion. Several nearby secondary refining units were already idle for scheduled maintenance.

Almost a year ago the same facility was rocked by a large explosion and fire, but there were no injuries. The 2004 accident is being investigated by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the company allegedly breached 14 safety regulations.

BP has operated the plant, first opened in 1934, since 1999 when it bought oil company Amoco. The company's US-listed shares closed 2.4 per cent, or $1.51, lower at $62.01 a share on the New York Stock Exchange.

News of the blast pushed up oil prices in the Far East, and BP's share price in the UK is also likely to come under pressure following

The refinery processes up to 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day and produces 3 per cent of the US supply. It was not certain how the accident would affect the refinery's output.

Texas City, 35 miles (56 km) southeast of Houston, was the site of America's worst industrial accident when a ship carrying ammonium nitrate exploded in April 1957, killing 800 people and injuring another 5,000.

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