Venezuela's state oil company admits cutbacks at Cuba refinery

Venezuela's state-owned oil company PDVSA said Tuesday that it was facing "a technical problem" at a joint refinery it runs in Cuba, where production was limited to minimum output amid austerity measures announced by President Raul Castro.

"This is a technical problem all refineries are facing. We will close certain areas of the plant for 120 days over the course of the year to fix these issues and update certain processes," Luis Morillo, PDVSA's general manager in Cuba, told a press conference.

The PDVSA operates a refinery in the central city of Cienfuegos, around 250 km south of Havana, with Cuban state oil company CUPET. It was first built in the 1980s and reactivated in 2008.

The PDVSA official acknowledged that the refinery was still processing Venezuelan oil but at its minimum capacity.

"The plant is processing around 50,000 barrels per day which is less than its 65,000 designed capacity," he said.

However, he denied that Venezuela would cut the daily amount of crude oil it supplies to Cuba despite that Castro said last week that part of the island's economic troubles in the first half of this year was due to a "contraction in fuel supplies agreed with Venezuela."

"There has not been any issue or reduction with the supply of Venezuelan oil to Cuba. There is a technical and engineering difficulty at the Cienfuegos refinery," he clarified.

Morillo said the difficulties at the plant would not affect the daily lives of Cuban citizens despite economic measures announced last week by government officials.

Last week, President Castro announced a series of austerity measures, including the decrease in public bus services, cutting back on air-conditioning at public offices, reducing work days at some state buildings and slashing fuel allotments for government vehicles by half.

These measures are expected to affect Cuba's electricity, imports, investment, and fuel consumption. Endit