The explosion at a key natural gas production facility run by Petroleos de Venezuela has shut more than 60 percent of the country's fuel supply. Image by Mercedes Cavani via iStock
An explosion at a key natural gas production facility run by Venezuela's state owned company Petroleos de Venezuela has shut more than 60 percent of fuel supply to the country.
The explosion at a compression hub Monday morning injured three people and caused oil processing to be halted in the area to control a resulting blaze, said two people with knowledge of the situation who were not authorized to speak publicly.
No details were available about how much of oil output will be affected. PDVSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The site of the explosion, the Muscar Operations Center in Eastern Venezuela, supplies 63 percent of the natural gas consumed in the country, including for the electricity grid, petrochemicals and iron-ore producing, according to another person with knowledge of the matter.
Other PDVSA facilities add 11 percent to the supply, while privately run ventures, including by Spain's Repsol and Italy's Eni's Cardon IV, make for over 26 percent of the supply.