PdV El Palito refinery restart stumbles

Venezuelan state-owned PdV suspended its latest attempt to ramp up fuel production at the 140,000 b/d El Palito refinery when rising pressure caused more leaks in the plant's 61,500 b/d fluid catalytic cracker.

The FCC was producing about 10,000 b/d of gasoline early today before PdV operators tried to triple output to about 30,000 b/d, according to three officials at the refinery.

El Palito refinery managers told Argus after leaks downed the FCC in early August that the unit cannot be operated safely below 50pc capacity.

Today's simultaneous leaks forced PdV to implement emergency shutdown protocols and close an adjacent highway because of the risk of an explosion, one of the managers said.

The oil ministry had ordered El Palito operators late yesterday to boost the FCC's gasoline production despite the unit's structural deterioration, the manager added. El Palito had been shut down since 2017 until PdV recently started trying to repair it.

Repair crews are now waiting for the FCC to cool down before conducting another round of inspections to determine what new repairs are needed, the manager said. "We don't know yet when the FCC will restart."

Another PdV manager said two crude distillation units restarted this week at the 635,000 b/d Amuay and 305,000 b/d Cardon refineries that comprise the CRP complex at Paraguana. The plants are processing a combined 135,000 b/d of light and medium crude "without showing any problems."

PdV still expects to resume gasoline production at Cardon in 10-15 days, the manager added.

A local marketing manager at PdV headquarters in Caracas said sparse remaining gasoline supplies have been prioritized for Caracas at the expense of the rest of the country.

Venezuela's severe gasoline shortage has been aggravated by US oil sanctions that have driven away most suppliers. The deficit is impeding food distribution, which is usually carried out in Venezuela by light vehicles that run on gasoline.

Today the US Justice Department said it seized gasoline cargoes aboard Iranian tankers that had been bound for Venezuela.