PDVSA's Curacao Refinery Suffers Explosion, Fire Extinguished
A fire at the Isla oil refinery in Curacao run by Venezuela's PDVSA has been extinguished without impacting operations, sources close to the facility told Reuters on Friday.
An explosion at the 335,000-barrel-per-day (bpd) facility was heard just before midnight, according to local media, and news photos showed a fireball. There have been no injuries reported.
An over-accumulation of gasoline in a storage tank near Isla's catalytic cracker caused the fire, but the flames did not impact the unit, according to one of the sources.
Two of Isla's three crude distillation units are currently in operation, the sources added. The catalytic cracker is also working to produce gasoline and other fuels.
Isla produced 118,200 bpd of refined products in November due to operational issues and lack of crude, according to PDVSA's most recent internal reports seen by Reuters.
Reporting by Marianna Parraga
