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PDVSA would consider complete purchase of Isla refinery: official
By Carlos Camacho
PLATTS
CARACAS
Petroleumworld.com 08 16 07
Venezuelan officials Wednesday said they were seeking to buy at least a
stake in the Isla refinery it operates in neighboring Curacao, and if the
Curacao government was willing to sell the entire plant, then the Venezuelan
state oil company PDVSA would want to acquire it."We are in talks with Curacao pertaining to Isla," Venezuelan Oil
Minister Rafael Ramirez said a rally outside the PDVSA compound with
pro-government unions. Asked how much of stake PDVSA would seek in the
refinery, Ramirez, who is also the president of PDVSA, responded that
" conversations are just beginning. It would not be proper of me or adequate to
offer you a percentage at this point."Last week, a PDVSA lawyer said the company wanted better compensation for
its operation of Isla and sought to renegotiate its contract.Asdrubal Chavez, PDVSA vice president for refining, trade and supply,
said, "the situation with Isla that our contract comes due in the year 2015.
We would like to invest in the refinery, but we will feel a whole lot more
comfortable doing those investments, which include environmental retooling to
new world standards, [by] owning a stake there."Chavez said PDVSA would initially seek a non-controlling stake. "But if
control becomes available, we would like that," he said.Isla currently runs at 215,000 b/d. Chavez said he would like to take it
to at least 250,000 b/d, with the main investment in deep conversion
technology. Already, two refineries in Venezuela, El Palito and Puerto La Cruz
are being retooled with deep conversion technology.newsdesk@platts.com
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Platts 15 08 07
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