Exclusive: Iran will begin repairs on Venezuela’s largest oil refinery within weeks – #Exclusive #Iran #repairs #Venezuelas #largest #oil #refinery #weeks
PUNTO FIJO, Venezuela, February 3 (Reuters) – Iran and state-owned firms from Venezuela to restore crude distillation capacity at the South American country’s largest oil refinery in the coming weeks 10It will begin 0-day renovations, four sources close to the plan said. .
State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and state-owned Iran National Oil Refining and Distribution Company (NIORDC) efforts to boost fuel production at Paraguana Refinery in Venezuela USA is a step towards ending reliance on oil refining technology. he said.
Venezuela, which has the world’s largest crude oil reserves, has been plagued by refinery shutdowns, lack of investment and import barriers in recent years. USA enough because of the sanctions gasoline and has difficulty producing diesel. Long lines at gas stations 2020has become common since
Tehran has strengthened relations with Caracas in recent years, Venezuela outdated provided feedstock and condensate as well as parts and raw materials for a 1.3 million barrel per day refinery network.
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A unit of NIORDC signed a €110 million contract with PDVSA in May to refurbish Venezuela’s smallest refinery, the 146,000-barrel El Palito in the center of the country, and the project is now underway.
The companies are expected to sign a 460 million euro contract in the coming weeks to rebuild the 955,000-barrel-per-day Paraguana refinery off the coast of western Venezuela, sources said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, according to tweets from the Iranian Embassy in Caracas and the Venezuelan Oil Ministry Hussein Amirabdollahian arrived in Caracas on Friday and met with Venezuela’s Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami.
The embassy did not return calls seeking comment on their talks. PDVSA, NIORDC and Venezuela’s Oil Ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
The Paraguay reconstruction project will allow NIORDC to hire contractors and outsource work to repair five of the complex’s nine distillation units, which handle the primary processing of crude oil, the four people said.
Paraguana, consisting of Amuay and Cardon oil refineries, gasoline It ran at 25% capacity this month, even after restarting Amuay’s catalytic cracker, the main unit for
According to two people, Iran will be responsible for parts supply, installation and inspection before handing over refinery operations to PDVSA.
The planned distillery overhaul will incorporate Chinese and Iranian parts and equipment in refineries originally built with US technology, the sources said. They added that integrating new and old components will not be easy.
If the rebuild is successful, larger renovations could take place in 2024 and 2025, according to sources.
“If the distilleries don’t work, the oil refinery doesn’t,” says Nelson Hernandez, an energy expert from Caracas. “All facilities must undergo a redevelopment or overhaul program.”
A QUARTER OF A CUBE
According to sources, the complex is under renovation outdated A project to restore electricity supply is also planned.
Crude supplies to the Amuay and Kardon refineries could be switched to increase motor fuel production, as NIORDC did at El Palito, adding Iranian oil to the plant’s feedstock, the people said.
Iranian technicians are also considering adding upgraded crude from the Petromonagas project, a joint venture with Russian state oil company PDVSA, one of the people added.
Another source about Venezuela’s socialist government said: “They gasoline they aim to eliminate their lines. They want to stabilize domestic supply.”
According to Refinitiv Eikon, the Iranian-flagged Golsan cargo ship arrived in Venezuela this month carrying equipment. The ship reportedly made its first stop at the port of La Guaira near Caracas and reportedly headed to PDVSA’s port of Jose near the Puerto la Cruz refinery in eastern Venezuela.
Reuters could not immediately determine what the ship had unloaded in Jose.
IRANIAN AFFAIRS
According to sources, Iranian technicians 10Venezuela’s oil refineries have been inspected several times over the past year to prepare for the arrival of at least 400 Iranian workers who will work alongside 00-1,500 local workers and contractors.
One of the sources said that Venezuelan officials have been given temporary accommodation and vehicles for the workers, including the possibility of setting up a camp near Paraguana.
According to sources, the exact date for the arrival of the Iranian workers has not yet been communicated to the Paraguana workers.
During the El Palito upgrade, PDVSA sent hundreds of Venezuelan workers home to make way for Iranian technicians who sparked protests. A separate group of contractors who claim they have not been paid for work in Paraguana since 2021 also recently protest they did.
“They criticized us, said we were bad or inexperienced professionals,” said a Venezuelan worker from Paraguana, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals. “We had to produce in the most difficult conditions. Nevertheless, we delivered.”
PDVSA has not publicly commented on the situation and Reuters labour did not answer questions about the status of their claims.
Reporting by Mircely Guanipa, writing and additions by Marianna Parraga in Houston report. Added by Deisy Buitrago in Caracas and Tibisay Romero in Valencia report Edited by Gary McWilliams and Daniel Flynn
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-02-04 01:42:23
Source – reuters
Translation“24 HOURS”