Fire erupts in PetroPiar oil tank in Venezuela

A fire broke out this afternoon in an oil tank belonging to PetroPiar, the heavy crude upgrading joint venture between Venezuela's state-owned PdV and minority partner Chevron, according to officials close to the project.

The upgrader's operations will not be affected by the fire, which has been brought under control.

The PetroPiar is running at around 80,000 b/d, out of about 120,000 b/d of capacity. The plant restarted upgrading Orinoco heavy crude into Hamaca synthetic grade early this year, following months of less complex blending.

No one was hurt in today's incident.

PetroPiar is the only one of four upgraders at PdV's Jose complex that is operating as designed. PdV's PetroMonagas upgrader with a Russian partner has conducted some limited blending of light and heavy crude in its storage tanks. Two other upgraders are off line.

Chevron is operating in Venezuela under a waiver from US oil sanctions. The company's existing waiver expires on 22 April.

By Patricia Garip