Cuba to increase refining capacity to 350,000 barrels a day

Cuba to increase refining capacity to 350,000 barrels a day
Published on Thursday, April 29, 2010

HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- Hector Pernia, chief executive of the PDVSA-Cuba
joint venture said the Cuban oil refining system is designed to process
350,000 barrels a day, a capacity Cuba will reach once the joint
investment works are concluded.

This will guarantee steady supplies of oil derivates to every Caribbean
island and the PetroCaribe (integration mechanism in the energy field)
member countries, said Pernia, according to local 5 de Septiembre
newspaper's website.

The investment program includes the setting up of a new plant to refine
150 000 barrels a day in Matanzas city (in the northern coast, while
Cienfuegos is in the south)

At the same time, the Cienfuegos refinery will increase its capacity
from 65 000 to 150 000, and the one located in Santiago de Cuba (eastern
Cuba) will move up from 22 to 50 000.

The Cienfuegos refinery has averaged 59 000 barrels a day since the
beginning of 2008, said Pernia.

This industry, created by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our
America (ALBA) is the core of a petrochemical development pole in
Cienfuegos.

As part of the mega project, Cienfuegos port renovation is in the final
stages, as well as a gas pipeline that joins that city with the super
tanker base in Matanzas, said Pernia.

Another Cuba-Venezuela joint venture newly created is in charge of the
construction of an ammoniacal and urea processing plant, announced Pernia.

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