(Energy Analytics Institute, Piero Stewart, 8.Apr.2020) — Venezuela’s state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and the Italian oil company ENI, which comprise the Empresa Mixta Petrojunín, SA — a subsidiary of the Venezuelan Petroleum Corporation (CVP) — announced the restart of construction activities related to a diluent pipeline for the transport of naphtha to be used to dilute heavy and extra-heavy oil extracted from the Hugo Chávez Orinoco Oil Belt or Faja.
Operational personnel from PetroJunín have been active, despite contingency measures nationwide related to COVID-19, transferring coated pipes from the city of El Tigre to Zuata with aim to gradually continue with activities related to construction of the infrastructure.
The actual diluent pipeline is 8 inches thick and 2.2 kilometers long, and located in Junín Block 5 of the Faja, PDSVA announced 8 April 2020 in an official statement.
The pipeline is destined to distribute naphtha from the EV-2S valve station to the MPJ5 Basic Construction and Production Unit (UBCP) area, which has potential of 6,000 barrels per day (b/d).
Use of the diluent will allow the companies to save an estimated €1 million per year, due to non-usage of vacuum trucks and naphtha injection pumps, as well as a decrease in deferred production due to stoppages related to this equipment, PDVSA said.
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