Venezuela halted the Cardon refinery, its second-largest with a capacity of 310,000 barrels per day, after a fire sparked by a ruptured natural gas line, state-run oil company PDVSA said late on Tuesday while it evaluates the situation.
Eight sources with knowledge of the matter earlier confirmed to Reuters that a fire had broken out at the facility, part of PDVSA’s 955,000-bpd Paraguana Refining Center, Venezuela’s largest complex.
Two of the sources said the fire started at a gas line to the refinery’s diesel hydrotreater, forcing the shutdown of the entire facility, including boilers.
In its evening statement, PDVSA said it quickly contained the blaze caused by a rupture at about 3:25 p.m. in the natural gas line feeding the boilers. There were no injuries or major damage, it added, and the incident is being investigated.
Fires, power interruptions and outages are common at the company’s facilities, and can affect supply of fuel essential to the domestic market, such as gasoline and diesel.
Huge columns of flames and smoke billowed from the refinery in videos posted on social media. Later photographs from neighbors showed firefighters in the facility and the flames put out.
Reuters could not immediately verify the video content, but sources reported seeing the smoke and flames.
Output was halted last month from one of Cardon’s crude distillation units and its fluid catalytic cracker because of insufficient feedstock.
(Reuters)
