Gasoline production paralyzed in unit of the second largest Venezuelan refiner

The reformer of the Cardón refinery, a key unit in the production of gasoline in Venezuela, has been paralyzed since Sunday due to a failure and would be out of service for about seven days, four people familiar with the operation told Reuters on Tuesday.

The unit, with a capacity to process 45,000 barrels per day (bpd), has operated intermittently in the past year.

“The reformer is shutting down due to problems with some heat exchangers,” said one of the sources who asked not to be named.

Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The stoppage leaves Cardón without gasoline production because its Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit has been out of service since early June while undergoing repairs due to a failure. The FCC of the Amuay refinery has also been stopped for maintenance since March.

Together with the neighboring Amuay refinery, Cardón, which can process up to 310,000 bpd of crude, forms the Paraguaná Refinery Center (CRP), one of the largest in the world with a capacity of 955,000 bpd.

CRP production is at 235,000 bpd, well below capacity, the sources added.

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