Cuba Moves Ahead With $2.7 Billion LNG, Ammonia Projects

Cuba Moves Ahead With $2.7 Billion LNG, Ammonia Projects

By Pietro D. Pitts Apr 28, 2014 9:13 PM GMT+0200



Cuba continues moving forward with development of a $1.4 billion natural

gas regasification project and a $1.2 billion urea and ammonia plant

under a Venezuelan initiative to provide cheap fuel to regional allies.



The regasification project will have the capacity to process 2.06

million metric tons per year and consist of building facilities to

receive and process liquefied natural gas, Petroleos de Venezuela SA

said in a December report released last week. The aim of the project is

to provide a clean and low-cost energy source to the population, the

company said without giving a completion date.



The urea and ammonia plant will have the capacity to process 400,000

metric tons per year of urea and 370,000 metric tons per year of

ammonia. The project seeks to benefit Cuba's industrial sector,

particularly plastics, industrial agriculture and chemical products,

PDVSA said.



Output from the urea and ammonia plant will be destined to meet demand

in Cuba while excess output will be exported by PDVSA's petrochemical

affiliate Pequiven to countries in Central America and the Caribbean.

The project conceptualization phase has been finalized though no

completion date was given.



Created by late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in 2005, the

Petrocaribe Initiative lets its 18 member countries buy oil from PDVSA

at market prices, paying 5 percent upfront and the remainder over 25

years at 1 percent interest.



PDVSA exported an average 103,400 barrels a day to Petrocaribe members

in 2013 compared to 102,000 barrels a day in 2012, the company said.

Cuba, under an accord with Venezuela, received 89,600 barrels per day in

2013 from PDVSA compared with 91,100 barrels per day in 2012.



To contact the reporter on this story: Pietro D. Pitts in Caracas at

ppitts2@bloomberg.net



Source: Cuba Moves Ahead With $2.7 Billion LNG, Ammonia Projects -

Bloomberg -

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-28/cuba-moves-ahead-with-2-7-billion-lng-ammonia-projects.html