Curaçao refinery reopens after five years of inactivity

The Korsou Refinery (RdK) reopens after being inactive for five years, betting on receiving oil from Venezuela

This weekend, the Korsou Refinery (RdK), in Curaçao, announced the restart of operations, with the bet of receiving oil from Venezuela.

The facility was operated by the Venezuelan PDVSA between 1985 and 2019, the year in which the concession contract expired. Now, the RdK reopens and hopes to have the support of the “Venezuelan brothers.”

However, they remain expectant as April 18 approaches, the date on which the US Treasury Department’s licenses to trade Venezuelan crude oil expire.

In an interview with the AFP agency, the director of the refinery in Curaçao, Patrick Newton, indicated: “The sanctions imposed on Venezuela did a lot of damage to us in the negotiations still underway to find foreign companies willing to invest in the reactivation.”

For Newton, the reactivation of the refinery is strategic for the region. The objective is “to resume the role of RdK as a transit port for crude oil and fuels in the Caribbean to international markets.”

The refining potential of the facilities in Curaçao is 360,000 bpd. Last December, they signed an agreement with PDVSA for the Venezuelan state company to pay a debt of USD 450 million with crude oil. The first shipment is expected to occur during the first six months of 2024.

M.Pino

Source: elestimulo

(Reference image source: Delfino Barboza in Unsplash)

Visit our news channel on Google News and follow us to get accurate, interesting information and stay up to date with everything. You can also see our daily content on Twitter and Instagram

You might also like