Gasoline output unscathed by fire: PdV officials

A fire today in an oil waste drainage trench near a fluid catalytic cracker (FCC) at Venezuelan state-owned PdV's Cardon refinery did not disrupt incipient gasoline production, four sources at the plant tell Argus.

The 305,000 b/d refinery's 86,000 b/d FCC was producing about 30,000 b/d gasoline before the fire erupted at 11am ET while workers were draining the trench.

PdV did not suspend the FCC's operations while the fire was suppressed because prevailing winds drove the flames away from the unit, three workers at the refinery said.

PdV emergency firefighting crews extinguished the blaze an hour after it started, said a refinery manager, who said the incident was probably caused by human error.

The FCC unit does not appear to have suffered any damage, an oil union official added. No injuries were reported.

The Cardon and nearby Amuay refineries comprise PdV's 940,000 b/d CRP refining complex on the Paraguana peninsula. The complex is the heart of PdV's mostly inoperative 1.3mn b/d domestic refining system.

The limited gasoline production at Cardon, together with dwindling gasoline and alkylate supply from Iran, has left most of Venezuela bereft of its main transportation fuel.

But the Opec country is scheduled to receive another product cargo from Italy next week, highlighting the endurance of debt-related oil trade with EU companies that falls outside the scope of escalating US sanctions on Caracas.

The Malta-flagged Gemma is scheduled to berth at Venezuela's Amuay terminal around 8 July, having loaded at Milazzo, Italy, on 19-21 June, according to ship tracking services. Italy's Eni and Kuwait's state-owned KPC run a 235,000 b/d refinery at Milazzo, which received a 1mn cargo of Venezuelan crude last week on the Greece-flagged Delta Tolmi.

It is not clear what product the Gemma is carrying. Previous deliveries have been identified as diesel.