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Fire finally out in Venezuelan oil refinery, authorities say

29 August 2012 02:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The fire that engulfed three tanks and killed 48 people in Venezuela’s largest oil-refining complex has finally been put out, Venezuelan Mining and Petroleum Minister Rafael Ramirez said, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com website.

"The fire at Amuay has been totally extinguished," Ramirez was quoted as saying in the Twitter account of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA, which operates the refinery.

A gas leak is believed to have caused the explosion Saturday at the Amuay refinery on Venezuela’s northern coast, injuring about 80 people. The resulting fire engulfed several tanks, three of which remained in flames Monday.

The facility in Paraguana in the western state of Falcon processed more than 900,000 barrels of fuel a day. Ramirez has insisted in recent days that the refinery would resume operations two days after the fire is put out, which means it should be operational by Thursday.

"Now we have before us all the (cooling) tasks and those to secure the area, in order to declare the end of the emergency situation here," Ramirez told Caracas-based TV channel Telesur.

Venezuela is one of the world’s largest oil exporters, and oil is the main pillar of the South American country’s economy.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in power since 1999, is standing for re-election on October 7, and the Amuay disaster may weigh in on his chances, some observers have noted.

Chavez and other government officials have rejected charges that the explosion was caused by poor maintenance. A probe has been launched to establish the cause of the disaster.

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