Venezuela to invest US$83 million in Cuban oil refinery

Venezuela said it plans to invest US$83 million ( Ђ 68.5 million) to refurbish an idled Soviet-era oil refinery in Cuba.

Photo: Venezuela to invest US million in Cuban oil refinery

The Cuban government and state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PDVSA, announced an agreement this week to rehabilitate the refinery in the central Cienfuegos city on Cuba's southern coast to refine, store and distribute crude oil.

In the first phase, the refinery is expected to produce per day: 15,000 barrels of gasoline, 14,225 barrels of diesel, 7,322 barrels of jet fuel, 32,525 barrels of fuel oil and 958 barrels of liquified petroleum gas, PDVSA said in a statement late Wednesday.

Production will meet local demand and allow more than 9,000 barrels of motor vehicle gasoline and 582,000 barrels of aviation fuel to be exported each day to the Caribbean market, it said.

Cuba will hold 51 percent of the new joint venture, called PDV-CUPET SA, while Venezuela will hold the remaining 49 percent, reports the AP.

I.L.