PDVSA and CITGO Start Operations of Subsidiary CITGO Aruba

Officials from the Governments of Aruba and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as representatives of Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) and CITGO Petroleum Corporation gathered in a ceremony for the start of activities of CITGO Aruba, a new affiliate that will reactivate operations at the Aruba refinery, with capacity to run 209 thousand barrels per day and which has been idled since 2012.

The refinery, owned by the Government of Aruba, will be operated by CITGO Aruba. The logo for the new CITGO subsidiary was unveiled during the ceremony, which was attended by the Minister of Economy, Communication, Energy and Environment of Aruba, Mike de Meza; Vice President of Refining, Trade and Supply of PDVSA, Jesus Luongo; and President and CEO of CITGO Petroleum Corporation, Nelson P. Martinez.

"This refinery is integrated into the vision of the Bolivarian Government and the state company. It will allows us to exploit the large hydrocarbon deposits we have in the Hugo Chavez Orinoco Oil Belt, where we have more than 297 billion barrels”, said Mr. Luongo.

The refinery will be refurbished, and fully operational within 18 to 24 months. It will transform extra heavy crude from the Orinoco Oil Belt into intermediate crude for the PDVSA refining network in the United States for further processing. The refinery will also produce naphtha which PDVSA will use to dilute extra heavy crude.

"This inauguration is the result of the hard work and dedication of professionals from CITGO, PDVSA, and the Government of Aruba. A team guided by the principles of solidarity and complementarity that created a project of enormous socioeconomic value for the parties involved”, said Mr. Martinez.

Last June an agreement was signed for the restart of the refinery. The signing ceremony was held in Caracas, headed by President of the Republic Nicol?s Maduro and Prime Minister of Aruba Michiel Eman; People's Minister of Petroleum and President of PDVSA Eulogio Del Pino, and the Minister of Economy, Communication, Energy and Environment of Aruba, Mike de Meza.

"This signing is the result of a process of renewal of political, human and cultural ties between our peoples and the search for new opportunities for joint development. For Venezuela, the region’s energy stability is fundamental", said President Maduro at that time.