A fire at a unit of Kuwait's 200,000 barrel-per-day Shuaiba oil refinery on Monday led to its total shutdown but there were no casualties, an official at state refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said.

Ahmed al-Jemaz, acting chief executive, told state news agency KUNA that all employees were evacuated as a precautionary measure after the fire at the heavy oil unit of the country's smallest refinery.

An industry source told Reuters earlier that there was an explosion at a unit of Shuaiba on Monday. – Reuters