PDV CUPET S.A Performing Complete Shutdown at Cienfuegos Refinery in Cuba

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The 65,000-barrel-per-day (BBL/d) Cienfuegos refinery, which is 250 kilometers from La Habana in the Cienfuegos province of Cuba, is undergoing a plant-wide shutdown for maintenance work. The refinery is owned and operated by PDV CUPET S.A. (Cienfuegos), a joint venture formed by state-owned companies Cubapetróleo (CUPET) (La Habana) and Venezuela's Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) (Caracas).

The planned overhaul started on December 11 and is scheduled to last 25 non-production days. Processing units like the 65,000-BBL/d crude unit, the 7,000-BBL/d Distillate Hydrotreater, and the 7,000-BBL/d Reformer and Gas Fractionator are expected to be back online by January 4.

The Cienfuegos refinery was built 20 years ago using Soviet technology. The plant was idled in 1995, after the economic crash that the Cuban economy suffered after the fall of the European socialist regime.

After a total investment that reached $166 million, the Cienfuegos refinery was reinaugurated in December 2005 by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Cuban President Raúl Castro, through a joint project held by CUPET and PDVSA as part of the ALBA project (Alternativa Bolivariana para las Américas) promoted by Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua.

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