Oil spill near the largest refining center in Venezuela

The Venezuelan state oil company, PDVSA, confirmed an oil spill from an oil and gas pipeline to the Caribbean near the country's largest oil refining center, but said it had begun repair and clean-up operations.

The Environment Committee of the Venezuelan Parliament, which is dominated by the opposition based on satellite images, confirmed that this oil spill covers an area of ​​more than 13 km.

According to "Reuters", a company statement said yesterday, that this leak was discovered in the Goulvet de Coro area in Falcon State during an inspection of Joy, and despite this leak, it guarantees the continued supply of oil to the Paraguana oil refining complex, which includes the Amuay and Cardon refineries. 

Amway and Cardon have seen multiple blackouts in recent years, with the opposition blaming poor management and lack of maintenance.

Venezuela has been hit by US sanctions that have exacerbated an acute fuel shortage. On Friday, the Venezuelan government announced a new initiative to distribute fuel, and said it plans to set up new refining projects, without giving details.

The company clarified that it carried out sanitation work in this area near Miranda in the state of Falcon "northeast", after fixing the leak, and the crude oil supplies to the "Northeast" Paraguana Refining Center, which has a capacity of 950 thousand barrels, were not affected daily.

The country, which is going through a stifling economic crisis, suffers from a shortage of petrol due to the suspension of operating refineries. Opposition and environmental organizations condemned the existence of an oil spill on the coast of Falcon State.