PdV to restart CRP refining by 10 July

Venezuela´s state-owned PdV plans to restart crude processing at the 940,000 b/d CRP refining complex by 10 July after electricity supply was restored on the Paraguana peninsula, the oil ministry said.

The oil ministry said the CRP complex remained off line as of 6pm ET today, but electricity has been restored to about 80pc of the peninsula, including PdV's Amuay and Cardon sea terminals. Tanker operations are expected to resume on 9 July, the ministry added.

Safely restoring refinery operations could take three to five days, the ministry added.

The CRP complex, which includes the 635,000 b/d Amuay refinery and 305,000 b/d Cardon refinery, shut down at 11:30pm ET on 7 July when a transformer exploded at the Judibana sub-station. The blast damaged at least two thermoelectric turbines at the 450MW Josefa Camejo and 315MW Genevapca power plants in Falcon state, an electricity ministry official said.

The transformer explosion damaged several generation and transformer components that state-owned utility Corpoelec is now replacing, Falcon state governor Victor Clark said this afternoon while inspecting the affected substation that links Genevapca and Josefa Camejo to the national power grid.

Two oil union officials who work at the CRP said PdV repair crews are inspecting the Amuay and Cardon refineries to determine if any units sustained structural damage that would hinder restart protocols.

A senior oil union official said the CRP was operating at less than 20pc of its nameplate capacity immediately before the weekend blackout.