Rises to 26 the number of dead in explosion at refinery in Venezuela

The Venezuelan government has announced that the 26 are killed in an explosion in the early hours of Saturday (25) in Amuay refinery, one of three that make up the Paraguaná Refining Center, the chief of Venezuela and one of the largest in the world. The accident left more than 80 injured. "We must inform you that, unfortunately, the death toll is 26 compatriots identified, 17 of them Bolivarian National Guard troops (GNB)," said Vice President Elias Jaua, who went to monitor the situation at the refinery located in the State Falcón. Previously, Health Minister Eugenia Sader, has confirmed to the press that 86 people were taken to the hospital Rafael Calles Sierra town of Punto Fijo, where the refinery. Eugenia said that 77 people were hospitalized with minor burns and were transferred to a hospital in the neighboring state of Zulia, and that five patients are being treated in Punto Fijo. The vice president lamented victims of the accident, caused by a gas leak that generated a cloud that exploded with a large shock wave that caused structural damage to several houses in the vicinity and a facility of the National Guard. Jaua explained that was installed a command post in place to "ensure appropriate care for the wounded, the families of the victims and the entire population in general." The Minister of Petroleum and Mining, Rafael Ramirez, said the explosion "caused severe damage to the posting of the 45 National Guard", a military complex with residential infrastructure and affected a portion of the tank. The governor is on the site of the explosion at the company's oil minister and president of the state oil company PDVSA, Rafael Ramírez. "It was an explosion in the storage area, the product of a gas leak that climatic conditions that reigned, was accumulated in the area and in front of an ignition source, it exploded," said Ramírez, after making a reconnaissance of the premises. "We will investigate the origin of this, but we can not advance any hypothesis. Now, what we're doing is to confront the situation, given the injured, removing the debris," said Ramirez. President Hugo Chavez declared three days of national mourning due to the tragedy. Chavez also sent its condolences to the families of the deceased and appealed to the population to be "alert and calm because, amid the tragedy, the greater danger was controlled."

Activities suspended

after the explosion, we performed a shutdown of the complex activities that must return to work within two days, the minister said the sector. Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said the refinery's processing units Amuay were not affected by the explosion, but there was still fire in a naphtha storage tank. He also said that PDVSA will increase production at other refineries, and that the company has stocks equivalent to 10 days of sales to ensure compliance with export agreements and the needs of the domestic market. The Amuay refinery, part of Paraguaná Refining Center, and the country's largest oil and processes 645,000 barrels of oil per day. The Paraguaná Refining Center covers more than 60% of the fuel demand of Venezuela. Venezuela - first oil producer in South America and fifth largest exporter - produces about three million barrels per day (mbd), according to official figures, although OPEC said that the country's oil supply is 2.3 mbd . OPEC certified in 2011 that Venezuela has the largest reserves of oil, with 296.5 billion barrels, above Saudi Arabia, the country with the largest refining capacity. Last March, the Venezuelan authorities reported that this figure rose to 297.57 billion barrels.