Venezuela's refineries down to 31% of crude processing capacity, workers say

SEATTLE (Oil Monster): Venezuela's refining network is processing some 399,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude, or 31% of ​its 1.29 million-bpd installed capacity, below the 35% of ‌capacity it reached in February as state-run company PDVSA struggles to keep units in service after restarting them, workers said this week.

The South American country has ​increased oil output and exports since it agreed to a ​flagship supply pact with the U.S. government in January, ⁠but limited power service, outages and need for major repairs and ​maintenance are creating obstacles to recovering refining operations.

 In recent weeks, PDVSA has ​focused efforts on restarting fuel-making units at several refineries, but some fluid catalytic crackers have been unable to operate continuously, the workers said.

At the nation's largest ​complex, the 955,000-bpd Paraguana Refining Center, four crude distillation units were ​operational, processing some 237,000 bpd of oil this week, with only one fluid ‌catalytic ⁠cracker in service, one of the sources said.

At the 187,000-bpd Puerto la Cruz refinery, two crude distillation units were processing 82,000 bpd, while at the country's smallest refinery, the 146,000-bpd El Palito, one crude ​unit was active ​with some 80,000 ⁠bpd and a fluid catalytic cracker was also in service, workers from those facilities said.

Venezuela, which sells ​fuel domestically in a combination of domestic and foreign ​currency, ⁠has had episodes of severe fuel scarcity in the past, forcing drivers to line up for days in front of gas stations.

Under U.S. authorizations, ⁠PDVSA ​is this year importing naphtha it has ​used for complementing its domestic fuel output, according to ship tracking data.

 Courtesy: www.reuters.com