(Platts, 22.Mar.2018) – PDVSA is planning to close three of its four large refineries in Venezuela indefinitely due to of lack of crude to process and because the state company does not have enough staff to operate the plants, union sources said Thursday.
Refineries: Venezuela’s Cardon, Puerto La Cruz and El Palito
Owner: PDVSA
Overall capacity (b/d):
— Cardon 310,000
— Puerto La Cruz 187,000
— El Palito 145,000
Units affected: All
Duration: Ongoing
“The information we have is that PDVSA will close the Cardon, Puerto La Cruz and El Palito refineries in the next few weeks,” said union executive Ivan Freites. Freites said that the Cardon refinery would only be used for the production of lubricants and as part of PDVSA’s logistics for the supply of fuels to the national market. “PDVSA will continue to operate the Amuay refinery where it concentrates specialized personnel in refining and the crude available for processing,” Freites said.
Freites said PDVSA specialists are leaving Venezuela for other countries, where they can obtain higher salaries and a better quality of life. At least 4 million people, or 15% of Venezuela’s population, have left the country because of a serious, ongoing economic crisis. “Our records in the unions indicate that 70% of the plant operators and 75% of the process engineers have renounced PDVSA,” Freites said.
PDVSA’s four large refineries in Venezuela are all operating below capacity and with many maintenance problems. This has forced the country to import refined products.
On March 15, Venezuela’s 955,000 b/d Paraguana Refining Center, or CRP, was operating at 267,000 b/d, or 28% of capacity, PDVSA said in technical report. The CRP includes the 645,000 b/d Amuay refinery and 310,000 b/d Cardon refinery. It also includes the Bajo Grande asphalt plant, which has been shut since November 6 due to damage to a furnace.
The technical report said Amuay was operating at 167,000 b/d, or 25.9% of capacity, and Cardon was operating at 100,000 b/d. But on March 21, PDVSA shut its 185,000 b/d No. 5 distiller at Amuay, bringing the plant’s throughput down to 120,000 b/d, or 18.6% of its capacity. PDVSA has not run Amuay at maximum capacity since August 2012, when an explosion killed 42 people and injured 80.
The Puerto La Cruz refinery was operating at 50,000 b/d, or 26.7% of capacity, on March 21.
“The El Palito refinery has been operating intermittently for short lapses, when there is light crude oil to process. At this moment it is paralyzed,” said a refinery union leader who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Additionally, El Palito does not have electricity supply autonomy, being highly dependent on the national electricity system that also faces a series of crises,” the union leader said. “PDVSA has announced that it will not send more crude to El Palito, so its definitive closure is imminent,” he added.
PDVSA could not be reached for comment.
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