Operations at the Petropiar crude upgrader have been halted by Venezuela’s PDVSA. Crude transport stopped by PDVSA from its Petrosinovensa and Petromonagas projects, four people familiar with the matter said.
Due to high inventories, the Petropiar upgrader halted last Thursday. Extra-heavy crude from the Orinoco oil belt converted by the upgrader into exportable grades. Petropiar is part of a JV with Chevron Corp.
Production at the Orinoco belt itself has fallen to just 100,000 bpd as collapsing exports due to US sanctions on PDVSA prompt a spike in domestic inventories. Around 400,000 bpd produced by the Orinoco belt in April while 300,000 bpd in early May.
With storage tanks nearing capacity, crude pumping halted by PDVSA last Friday from Petrosinovensa and Petromonagas, to the facilities where the crude is blended into exportable grades. In the Orinoco belt, Petromonagas and Petrosinovensa are two of the most productive projects. Just 16,000 bpd produced by Petrosinovensa on Friday while regularly it produced upwards of 80,000 bpd earlier this year.
