PdV recovering from new oil port glitch

Crude and products export/import operations at Venezuelan state-owned PdV's Jose complex in Anzoategui experienced fresh delays this month after high winds blew a tanker offloading a light crude cargo into the western wharf, forcing the facility's shutdown for almost three weeks.

The tanker's collision with Jose's western wharf, which has a capacity of 600,000 b/d, is the second major accident this year at the complex, which includes three main export wharfs with a combined loading capacity of up to 1.8mn b/d.

PdV suspended crude loading operations at Jose's eastern wharf on 14 January for almost a week after a ruptured hose spilled hundreds of barrels of Merey 16 heavy crude into Pozuelos Bay, contaminating the outer hull and decks of the Nave Quasar tanker that was moored at the wharf.

The shutdown of Jose's western wharf for emergency repairs at the start of March forced PdV to delay crude and product loadings for 17 tankers including VLCC and Suezmax vessels that travel to Asian and Caribbean destinations such as India, China, Curacao and Cuba. These tankers were scheduled to take on cargoes from the damaged terminal at the start of the month to 28 March, a PdV official at Jose told Argus.

Some tankers have been rerouted to other PdV terminals, but most are still waiting to load cargoes at Jose. PdV restarted the western wharf's operations on 26 March, the PdV official said.

The almost three-week shutdown of Jose's western terminal, which PdV to date has not acknowledged officially, also delayed unloading of at least 16 inbound tankers waiting to discharge imports of gasoline and diesel for the local market.

Imports of light crude and naphtha that PdV uses to produce Merey 16 heavy blends and diluted crude oil (DCO) also were delayed this month, disrupting PdV's upstream operations in the Orinoco oil belt and aggravating critical local gasoline and diesel shortages, the PdV official said.