WILLEMSTAD, Curacao, May 21 2017 – A large fire that occurred early Sunday at the 335,000-barrel-per-day Isla refinery on the Caribbean island of Curacao is now out, according to witnesses and sources.
The facility, run by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, is operating at around 50 percent of its capacity, according to sources.
A source said the fire broke out at one of Isla refinery’s crude distillation units.
PDVSA president Eulogio del Pino confirmed on Twitter that the fire was out, adding that there were no injuries.
He said an investigative committee had been formed.
PDVSA’s reliance on Isla has increased this year since the refinery restarted operations after a planned major maintenance programme.
Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, has increased purchases of refined products in recent months as its 1.3 million bpd domestic refinery network works at record lows due to lack of crude and spare parts, and equipment malfunctioning, according to internal documents and sources.
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