Fire at Venezuela oil refinery under control

March 16, 2011 | Government & Regulations, South America

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Venezuela’s state oil company says a fire has erupted at a major oil refinery, but it is under control and will not hurt oil shipments.

Petroleos de Venezuela SA says no one was hurt in the blaze, which affected one unit of the Amuay facility in western Venezuela.

Refinery manager Jesus Luongo says in a statement that the fire was brought under control after four hours and did not cause major damage.

Luongo also tells state-run Vive Television that PDVSA has sufficient inventory to meet pending gasoline supply commitments.

The cause of Tuesday’s blaze is unclear.