Ceremony marks start of CITGO Aruba refinery activities
Authorities from the governments of Aruba and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, and officials from PDVSA, CITGO Petroleum Corp. and CITGO Aruba, gathered at the main gate of the island's refinery today for a kick-off ceremony marking the start of the CITGO Aruba activities that will reactivate operations at the 209 Mbpd refinery which has been idled since 2012.
In attendance at the event were the Aruban Minister of Economy, Communication, Energy and Environment, Mike de Meza; the Vice-President of Refining, Commerce and Supply of PDVSA, Jesus Luongo; and the President and CEO of CITGO Petroleum Corp., Nelson P. Martínez.
As of today, the plant, now owned by the Aruban government, will be operated by CITGO Aruba. Today's ceremony included the unveiling of the facility's new logo.
The refinery will undergo a refurbishing process and it is expected to be fully operational in the next 18 months to two years. Once the refurbishing process has concluded, the facility will process extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco Oil Belt, transforming it into intermediate crude, which in turn will be sent on to the CITGO refining network in the United States for further processing. At the same time, naphtha will be sold to PDVSA for use as diluent for its extra-heavy crude.
In addition to the impact of salaries and wages from local employment, Martínez explained that this project will generate increased procurement for services and materials from local providers as well as increased tourism.
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