Cienfuegos.- Following an investment estimated at USD 166 million, the Cienfuegos Refinery, located in Cuba, will restart operations in order to anchor fuel supply to the parties to the Agreement on Energy Cooperation, Petrocaribe, propelled by President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Hugo Chávez, in 2005.

The facilities, located 260 kilometers to the southeast of Havana, will restart operations with a capacity of 65,000 bpd of oil and lever multiple social projects in the communities of Santa Carolina, Barbacoa and Santiago de Cuba.

Streamlining works included technological and operational overhaul of byproducts production in order to increase the capacity and process 150,000 bpd of Venezuelan oil over the next few years. There are plans to invest additional USD 300 million to increase the facilities capacity from 109,000 to 150,000 bpd by 2010.

Last October 14th, President Chávez reported that a mega-project including a petrochemical complex would follow the reopening of this refinery, modernized by PDVSA and CUPET. This initiative is most important under the Petrocaribe's long-term strategy on energy security and comprehensive development in the Caribbean basin.

In this way, the Bolivarian government backs, once again, Caribbean fellow nations. The goal is to fill the existing gap in the hemisphere by providing access to energy resources through policies on rational and effective use of hydrocarbons, energy saving, and alternative energy sources.